Dystopia
by esama
Summary: Few hundred years after Kira nearly destroyed the world, Light tries to figure out where he fits and L concentrates on doing what he does best. Alternate Universe, Post-Apocalyptic Steampunk, Slash.
1. Hidden Identities

**Dystopia**

**I Chapter**

**Hidden Identities**

"You really should learn how to do this yourself, Sayu. You're a girl after all, you're supposed to be _better_ than me at things like these," Light murmured while carefully sewing the broken hem of her yukata back into order. "How did you manage to tear it anyway?"

"Aah, well," the girl scratched her neck, the cat-mask not hiding her sheepishness. "I was playing at the Giants with my friends and it kind of got caught in the rubble…" she quickly clapped her hands together and bowed her head. "Don't tell dad, please, Light? I know I'm not supposed to go there but it was a dare and we were just having fun - and we weren't climbing or anything, we were just, you know, checking things out."

Light eyed her for a moment, wondering what sort of expression the mask was hiding, and sighed. "Fine. But I won't be mending your clothes the next time you manage to get them torn there," he muttered, turning his attention to the cloth he was fixing. "What was the dare anyway?"

"Just to see if we could find any loose metal," the girl shrugged. "If one of us found any, the others would buy sweet for them."

The young man shook his head. "You know everything loose has long since been taken and sold or melted," he said while finishing his sewing by knotting the yarn. Happy that his mask was only partial, hiding only the upper part of his face, he bowed his head and tore the yarn cleanly with his teeth. "And if you had managed to find any loose metal, the one who would've found it should've been treating the others."

"Yes, yes," the girl said while hopping to stand and smoothing the yukata hem back to its place. Then she inspected the formerly torn hem closely. "Ah! Perfect job! As expected. Thank you, Light!"

"You're welcome," Light sighed amusedly while gathering the yarn and the needle and hiding them in the sleeve of his yukata. "Did anyone of you find anything interesting?" he then asked while standing up from the ground where he had been kneeling.

"Heh, knew you'd be interested. But no, we didn't. Just some glass and no metal," the girl sighed and stretched her hands. "Aiko told me once that she found a piece of stainless steel from the Giants, but I don't know if I believe her. She would've been showing it off to everyone if she had. Anyone would, right?"

"I suppose. Jiro-san certainly made lot of noise about the metal plate he found," Light said, thinking back to the incident three months earlier before shaking his head and looking at the masked girl. "Was there anything else you wanted, Sayu?" he asked, brushing away the blades of grass that had stuck to his clothing.

"Nothing else, though… I was thinking," the girl trailed away, peering towards the north where the skeletal Giants stood. "How do you think they build the Giants, Light? The people of Before, I mean? The biggest house we have is only three stories high but I hear the highest Giant is like five times higher. Fifteen stories high!"

"Hmm…" the man folded his hands, giving the Giants an apprising look. They were huge, even seen from distance. He had seen them up close a few times, and they could be almost terrifying, standing so tall that they blocked the sunlight out. But not only were the Giants worthy of their name, but they were made of metal, metal which these days was so rare and hard to find.

"I don't think the Giants could've been built by hand, Sayu," he then said, raking his masked eyes op and down one skeletal structure that even from distance had a slightly greenish shade thanks to the moss and greenery that covered most of the Giants. "No, they were probably built by using some sort of machines."

The girl turned her cat masked face towards him, tilting her head curiously. "Like airships?"

Light chuckled. "Who would use airships to built things? Nah. I think they had machines specifically designed for making buildings like the Giants. Machines like we no longer can even imagine," he glanced at her. "Though I'm not as much interested on how they build the Giants, but where they got all the metal."

The girl nodded. "Yeah if you could find that much good metal these days, you'd be filthy rich," she muttered. "You know, it's weird. Everything else was scavenged but the Giants still stand there," she motioned at the cluster of ruined buildings. "Even if they're just pieces of scrap metal now, they probably weren't like that in the beginning. They were good metal once, right? So why didn't anyone take them apart?"

The boy shrugged. "When the Judgment happened, I think people had better things to do than tear down huge buildings," he said. "The stuff on the ground was easy to pick up and it took no effort to take apart the smaller buildings and such, but taking down the Giants would've been different. It would've taken time and machinery we _still_ don't have."

"Hm… Hotaru-san says that it's because of Kira and all," Sayu said, wrapping her hands around herself like they would shield her from the name. "Because Kira destroyed the world, people left the Giants where they are. To remind the future generations about what happened to them. What could happen again."

Light laughed at that. "Hotaru-san says many things, Sayu, I wouldn't put much value to any of it," he said amusedly, shaking his head. "And besides, Kira didn't destroy the world. The world is still there. We're still here."

"Well, he _ruined_ the world then," the girl shrugged. "Still it's kind of waste, don't you think? There's lot and lot of metal in the Giants but it's mostly useless now. Rusty and growing moss."

"Yeah, it is waste. Nothing we can do about it now," Light shrugged, turning his eye away from the skeletal structures and looking at the girl. "We should probably head home. It's almost dinner time, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Sayu said, throwing a last look towards the Giants before turning to face south, where they could see cluster of wooden houses standing amidst trees. "Do you think the people Before Judgement really were evil?" she then asked as they started to walk towards the houses. "Everyone says that they must've been because why else would've Kira destroy everything like he did, but… they built some amazing things, like the Giants. I even heard that the people Before went to the moon!"

Light shook his head. "Maybe they did. They must've been pretty skilful to create the things they did. But who knows what they were like," he said and glanced up to the sky. It was getting late, but he couldn't see the moon anywhere yet. "Maybe their sin was arrogance. They built buildings that touch the sky and if they really managed to go to as far as to the moon… in any god's eyes that would be arrogant, no?"

"Arrogant enough to be punished with the world's end?" Sayu asked. "I think Kira is an evil god."

"Most people think so," Light nodded.

"Do you?"

"I can't say. Maybe he was. Or maybe he was a good and just god but the people really were so evil that they deserved to be punished?" the young man shrugged his shoulders. "It's impossible to say now; we have no proof of which side was good or bad, people or Kira. Either way, I won't take anyone's word for it."

"Hmm… usually you're pretty righteous, Light," the girl said and he could hear her smile in her voice. "But you never take side when it comes to the Judgement and Kira."

"I don't see how it makes any difference either way," Light said. "The Judgement happened over three hundred years ago. It's the past and no matter what we think out it now won't change it."

"I suppose so. But you know -"

"Liight-kuun!" a male voice interrupted Sayu before she could continue, making the two look up and see a man in dark blue montsuki heading their way, carrying something wrapped in a cloth in his hands. "Lucky! I was just heading to see if you were home. Hey there, Sayu-chan," the man quickly said, nodding to her before thrusting the wrapping into Light's hands. "Please tell me you can fix it, Light-kun!"

"I can't tell anything before I know what _it_ is, Matsuda-san," Light said, eying the cloth in his hand suspiciously. It felt frightfully like the man's telescope. "Please don't tell me this is what I think it is," Light sighed heavily, not daring to open the wrapping to see the thing.

"I, uh…" the dark haired man scratched his neck sheepishly and Light could just imagine the awkward grin hidden behind his dark mask. "It sort of fell to the floor yesterday and, uh, fell apart. I would've brought it earlier, but I had to go to work early and I was just released half an hour ago and… well."

Light sighed again and moved the cloth aside to see a mess of lenses and tubes. "It either fell very hard or you tried to fix it yourself, evidently making things worse," he said sadly and the man laughed sheepishly. Telescopes were _rare_. It was such a pity that one of the few in the town had been inherited by someone like Matsuda. "I'll see what I can do, Matsuda-san."

"Thank you, Light-kun! I knew I could trust on you!" the elder male said with obvious relief. "How long do you think it will take for you to fix it?"

"You will need to give me at least a few hours, but if the damage is as bad as it looks like, it will probably take a day or two," Light said while examining the mess in his hands. "You did get all the parts, right? Every screw and bolt too?"

"It's all there, I swear," Matsuda nodded. "How about I'll come around tomorrow to see if it's done?"

"All right, but don't get your hopes up, I might not be able to fix it at all," Light said but the man obviously wasn't listening. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Matsuda-san," Light sighed and then he and Sayu watched how the man headed back where he had came from. "That man is such an airhead," he muttered.

Sayu chuckled. "He's not so bad. Dad likes him," she said, looking at the parts in Light's hands. "Do you think you can fix it? It looks like a mess to me."

"Who knows," Light said. "Let's head home. I'll see if I can fix it after dinner."

"Can I watch? I need to do my homework anyway, you can help me."

"Sure, why not."

Soon they reached the buildings, making their way through the streets towards their home, greeting people they knew as they went. While they walked, Light wondered about their town. He wasn't sure why but sometimes New Tokyo seemed foreign to him. It was, he knew, one of the biggest towns in all of Japan but not all that different from any other town. Wooden houses, very little machinery or technology, and people who never revealed their faces outside.

Still sometimes it felt like everything about it was just… wrong.

"Aha! Still exposing yourself, I see!" a familiar voice spoke suddenly making Light and Sayu turn around to see Hotaru-san, one of the oldest people who lived in their neighbourhood. She was wearing a demolish mask like usually and it felt like she was glaring at Light through the eyeholes. "Still having your face uncovered, you heathen. Kira will get you yet, Light, mark my words."

"Good day to you too, Hotaru-san. And I am covering my face," Light said a bit irritably, self consciously lifting his hand to touch the black fabric that covered upper half of his face. It was still there, still in its place, covering his forehead, eyes and some of his nose and cheeks.

"That's not a proper mask, that's a _cloth_," the old woman sneered, leaning heavily to her walking stick while pointing at him. "Cloth will never protect you from Kira's eyes. He will get you!"

"He hasn't gotten me yet, Hotaru-san, and I've worn this mask for months," Light answer was rather strained. "So I think I will just take my chances. Now if you don't mind, Sayu and I are late for dinner."

The woman scoffed and turned to Sayu. "You, girl, don't take his example. He will lead you astray if you do."

"Ah, yes, Hotaru-san," Sayu answered awkwardly and bowed her head. "Please excuse us," she added and took Light's hand, dragging him away from the old woman. Hotaru watched after them before scoffing again and heading away.

"She gives me the creeps," Sayu murmured.

"She's strong in her beliefs," Light shrugged and made thoughtful sound. "I think I might rub her wrong away."

"Yeah, I'd say that's pretty obvious, Mr. Wooden-masks-are-uncomfortable," the girl said pointedly. "You're just asking for trouble when you wear unique mask."

"Wooden masks _are_ uncomfortable. It's hard to see or breathe in them. Besides, I'm not the only one who wears fabric masks, or partial masks," Light said defensively. "Foreigners even wear see-trough veils. I don't see why I have to be harassed for not sticking to the norm."

"Because unlike most foreigners, you don't get violent when people harass you about it, and you don't start a speech about your cultural values and traditions and so forth" Sayu said thoughtfully before chuckling. "Though I can see why you want to wear a partial mask."

"And why is that?"

"A blind man could see how much the girls around here like you - my best friend has crush the size of a Giant on you," she giggled, nudging his side. "You have good body, beautiful hair, and having your very nice lips exposed like that only helps you there, you know. And with the whole going against the norm… what a rebel!"

Light grimaced, suppressing the urge to touch his braid self-consciously. He had _not_ wanted to know that Sayu's friends were crushing on him. And people thought he had nice lips? He hadn't wanted to know that either. "Let's talk about something else. Anything else," he said quickly. "How are you doing in school?"

Sayu giggled but nodded. "The usual way, I guess. Kanji is giving me headaches, you know," she said. "We're supposed to write a two page essay about masks and names for class by using as much kanji as possible. I'm going to fail it, unless you help me. You know more kanji even the Katashi-sensei!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere, and I already promised I'd help you," Light said amusedly and looked up as they came to the gates of their home. As Light was carrying the telescope parts, Sayu was the one to open the gates.

"Mom, we're home!" Sayu called while undressing her sandals and opening the sliding door. Light did the same and followed her inside.

"Welcome home, Sayu, Light! Good thing you're here too, I was wondering if you were going to miss dinner," Sachiko called from the kitchen. "Which will be ready in half an hour."

"Is dad here?" Sayu asked while heading to the kitchen. Light on other hand went to the sitting room where he sat to the floor on his knees, carefully placing the telescope parts to the floor. He gave them almost sympathetic look. Matsuda really didn't know how to treat things with proper respect.

"No, he hasn't come yet. He's probably going to be late again, so we will start without him this time," Sachiko answered to her daughter from the kitchen before gasping loudly. "Sayu, where on earth have you been playing this time? Look at yourself, you're filthy! Go and clean up. You're not having dinner in that state."

"Alright, alright, I'm going," the girl answered, soon walking to the sitting room. "I'm not that dirty, am I?" she muttered, examining her slightly stained hands.

"You are a little. You have grass stains all over your ankles," Light answered without looking up, instead examining the telescope parts critically. "And there is some dirt on the back of your left knee."

"I do?" she asked, trying to find the dirt. "You notice everything. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you knew," he said, grinning up at her briefly, before turning back to the parts and starting to arrange them into understandable order. He honestly wasn't sure if he could fix the telescope at all, but figured that with some logic, math and trial and error, he might get the right parts into right places. He had pretty good concept on how the telescope worked so it shouldn't be impossible.

He managed to get most of the parts into order and figure out which bolts and screws went where, when Sachiko called them to eat. Sayu had managed to clean herself up by then and had removed her cat mask, revealing her cute face and dark brown eyes. Sachiko was without a mask too, her usual nondescript mask's hanging from a hook near the kitchen door.

Taking their example somewhat reluctantly, Light removed his fabric mask as well, hiding it in his sleeve. Using his fingers to comp his bangs into order he glanced at Sayu and then Sachiko. Hs eyes skipped briefly to check the space on top of their heads before he turned to his dinner and tried to ignore what he could see so clearly now that his eyes weren't covered. "Itadakimasu," he murmured with the others and took his chopsticks.

"So, what have you two been doing today?" Sachiko asked as they started to dine. "Both of you've been out most of the day."

"I was just hanging out with my friends," Sayu said innocently. "I ran into Light just half an hour ago on the field."

"Oh? And what were you doing in the field then? You weren't by any chance playing at the Giants, were you?" the woman asked perceptively.

"Of course not!" Sayu said a bit too fast. "We were just hanging around. Mei was showing off her new geta. She got really nice white ones."

"I see. How about you, Light?"

"I was just taking a walk," Light shrugged. "I visited Itsuki-san earlier, though, he had some problems with his clock so I helped him fix it."

"That was kind of you," Sachiko smiled at him. "You're always helping people fix things, Light. It's very generous of you - especially since it's usually so expensive to have a specialist look into things like clocks and such."

"You should be asking people payments for fixing their stuff. Like with Matsuda, he certainly should have the money to pay you!" Sayu said and turned to her mother. "Matsuda broke his telescope, he just brought it to Light. It's in pieces and he expects Light to put it back together like nothing happened! Even a specialist would have problems with that."

"I don't know, it's not that hard to fix things," Light shrugged uncomfortably under the incredulous looks he was given for the words. "Well, I guess I have talent for it. Most of the time I don't know what I'm doing, though, so it would be wrong to ask payment for it," he muttered.

"You're too modest," Sayu murmured. "You could be making money! Lots of it, since lots of people ask your help."

"Sayu has a point. Eventually you need income for yourself, Light," Sachiko agreed. "When you move to live by yourself and need to support yourself… Of course Soichiro and I don't mind having you here at all, you can stay as long as you like, but…"

"I know," Light smiled. She had a point and he wasn't the sort of person to live under someone's wing anyway. "I'll… I'll think about it. Though I don't think that I could make a good living just by fixing things."

"You cold work as a teacher, or tutor. Your kanji is perfect and you know probably more about counting than anyone in New Tokyo," Sayu suggested. "Or you could work as a scribe or calligrapher."

"Or you could maybe see if you could get apprenticeship under a smith, then you could start making the things you know so well how to fix," Sachiko added. "You could be, uh, what are they called… engineer, mechanic?"

"Or technician," Light chuckled. "I'll think about it," he said again.

After dinner, he headed back to the sitting room where he sat to the floor on comfortable cross-legged position and started to work on Matsuda's telescope. While he tried to figure out the original order of the pars, Sayu carried her writing supplies and books into the room and sat down beside him, apparently intending to make most of his help.

"So, what should I write?" she asked, pulling the table closer to them and placing a clean piece of paper on it.

"It's your essay, why are you asking me?" Light asked, raising his eyebrow at her. She gave him a fat look and he sighed. "You're doing assignments in order to learn, Sayu, how is it learning if I do it for you?"

"Because you're genius and could write this thing in few minutes flat," she said. "Just… help me out."

"Alright, fine. But I'm not writing anything for you," Light said turning to the telescope parts. "You should start by going straight with hiragana and then writing it clean in kanji. The subject was about masks and names, right?"

"Yeah," Sayu scratched her cheek. "Dunno why that subject though. Everyone knows about masks and names."

Light raised his eyebrow. "Yes, I suppose they do. But what do they know about masks and names?"

"We wear masks outside and we have two names because of Kira. Well, some of us," she answered, giving him a thoughtful look.

"Yes, some of us. But why? What does have masks and names to do with Kira?" Light asked, examining one tube and then trying the lenses to see which of them fit inside. "Some people wear masks even inside, even in their sleep. Some people have even more names than two and usually only your parent's know your real name… all because of Kira. Why?"

"Because…" Sayu frowned. "Because Kira needs to know the face and the name to Judge a person."

"No, he needs name and face to kill a person," the young man corrected, glancing at her. "Was it a historical or a theoretical paper you needed to write or was it only about kanji?"

"Uh… Katashi-sensei told us to put our thoughts and feelings into the essay," Sayu said, scratching her neck.

"Philosophical then," Light said and thought about it. He could immediately think several ways to write a paper like that, but it wasn't his assignment. "Well, you could try figuring out what does it say about Kira that we hide our faces and name these days," he said. "Or what it says about us, since we're essentially hiding from him. Or what it says about the people Before. The Judgement fell on them hard so I at least think that they didn't wear masks or hide their real names."

Sayu thought about it. "If we're all hiding from Kira, does that mean that we, sort of, think that he's evil and needs to be hidden from?" she asked and then chuckled. "Hotaru-san is a believer and I bet she's one of the people who wear masks even in bed."

"What does it say about person who believes in a god while hiding their face and name from the said god so that the god can't smite them?" Light asked and smiled. "It's more of a tradition than fear these days to wear a mask, but originally it was habit developed because of the fear of Kira. Does that mean that Kira is evil and would punish everyone and thus we need to fear him and hide from him, or that we are all evil inside and that we hide because we know that he has the right to smite us?"

"Ugh, you're making this complicated," Sayu murmured and frowned. "You know, I don't wear the mask because I'm told or because I fear Kira or anything - Kira hasn't done anything after the Judgement, so why to fear him, right? But I still wear mask outside, because, well, I've worn it always. I'd feel naked without it. It would be like going outside without clothes."

"There's another angle. Tradition that has became a natural habit, another accessory to complete the wardrobe," Light said quietly while lowering the parts to the floor. "But don't you think it's a bit sad? Like this, without masks, we can see each other's expressions - each other's smiles - but when we have a mask… we can't tell."

"And people can hide their identities behind masks too," another voice joined the conversation. "Many bad people get away because they wear certain sorts of masks while committing crimes and change into another masks to hide - and no one knows what their faces look like…"

"Dad, you're back!" Sayu spoke as Soichiro entered the sitting room. "Welcome home."

"Thank you, Sayu," the man smiled while undressing the black mask worn by police. Underneath it, he was smiling. "You're having Light help you with homework again, Sayu?"

"He offered," she said quickly. "I didn't nag. At all."

Light shook his head amusedly. "I don't mind," he assured, glancing the top of Soichiro's head before turning his eyes to the man's face. "Hard day at work? You seem tired."

"A little. There have been sightings of some suspicious individuals in the town, people asking odd questions about the Giants and the Old Tokyo and things like that. Many people visited the station about it today," the man said with a troubled frown. "It makes people nervous when strangers ask questions about the Giants and the past."

Light glanced at Sayu. "These suspicious people… you think they will go to check the Giants out themselves?"

"Probably. It wouldn't be the first time outsiders stick their noses where they don't belong," the man said a bit irritably and sighed. "And on top of that, we got a radio telegraph from an airship that is apparently heading to New Tokyo for some rich inventor's personal business…"

"Airship?" Light asked with surprise. "Really? That's rare. When will it arrive?"

"Hm-hm, tomorrow evening or night depending on the winds. It's a bit problematic since they wouldn't divulge their true reasons for coming," the man muttered and glanced up as Sachiko called for him from the kitchen, asking if he wanted something to eat. "That would be lovely, Sachiko, thank you," he answered and glanced at the two. "I will go clean up. Don't bother Light too much while he is working, Sayu."

She nodded awkwardly and Light smiled at her slightly. Once the man was out of the room, Light leaned closer to her. "You better not go to the Giants again," he said in low voice. "If there are strangers around asking about them, the peace keepers will be keeping eye out for the fields and will probably be patrolling the Giants themselves."

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered and sighed. "I guess I'm lucky they weren't patrolling there today. But an _airship_! That's really rare! I wonder what it looks like. Will we see it?"

"If it's coming here, then I guess so," Light nodded, and glanced at her still empty paper. "Now, any thoughts about what you're going to write?" he asked.

"Hmm…" Sayu pursed her lips in thought and then turned to the paper. "I think so. You'll check if it's good for me, right? And help me with the kanji, right?"

"I will, I will. Just write something down first."

"Yeah. Though I don't know what to write about the names. Lot of stuff about masks and all but what about the name?" She looked at him hopefully.

Light sighed. "You can write about the traditions or the customs or the reason why we have two or more names - or, I don't know, about the security it gives to have a true name that no one knows," he shrugged, turning to look away. "Or about the freedom to choose your second or third name to represent yourself. Or about the show of trust of letting someone know your true name…"

Sayu blinked. "That's a bit clichéd, don't you think? There are like hundreds of romance stories where people tell their true name to someone," she mused before closing her eyes and smiling somewhat dreamily. "I wonder if anyone will ever tell me his true name… I wonder if I'll ever tell anyone…"

Light glanced at her, then at the red writing hovering on top of her head, proclaiming her true name and time of death. Quickly he turned his eyes back to the telescope. "Let's hope he's a good and honest person," he said awkwardly. "You all set to write now?"

"Yeah, I think so," Sayu said and after a moment of thought started to write. Then she stopped. "Hey, I just realised something. I didn't give myself my second name. Mom did," she blinked and turned to look at him. "Actually, I think you're the only person who chose his name for himself."

Light quirked a smile. "That is the tradition around here. Father gives the true name, mother gives the second name," he said. "Still, in other places people either choose third names for themselves or go without a second name until they're old enough to choose for themselves."

"Hmhm. Kind of bummer. I would like to choose third name for myself," Sayu murmured. "But everyone here would never use it because I'm already known as Sayu…" she pursed her lips thoughtfully. "And I can't even think what I would call myself. Hey, how did you choose name like Light?"

The young man shrugged. "It seemed fitting," he just said. "And it's the first thing I remember seeing."

x

The next day Light spent most of the morning working on Matsuda's telescope. Thankfully Sayu had a school day and wasn't home then, and he could work in peace. It was coming along somewhat well, but he couldn't know if he actually managed to fix it right before he would have to chance to test it out, though.

_'It's really a pity that this thing belongs to Matsuda. He doesn't probably even understand what he owns, and how valuable this thing is,'_ Light mused while carefully fitting the last lense into the tube and tightening it to its place. _'There are probably only a handful of people in the entire world who can make telescope lenses. Matsuda is lucky he didn't manage to crack one. He really should sell or give this thing to someone who could actually appreciate it…'_

After the tube was fitted into its place, Light leaned back to admire his handiwork. It looked about right but with telescope smallest flaw could make the entire thing useless. _'Time to test it. I'll use the balcony,'_ he thought while taking out his fabric mask and quickly fitting it over his eyes. Then he picked the telescope up carefully before heading to the second floor and there to the balcony.

For a moment Light couldn't help but admire the view. The house he lived in was one of the few with two floors, so he could see over most of the houses. Te fact that the house was in high ground only helped. From the balcony it was easy to see the peculiar arching shape of New Tokyo. _'I still don't get why they built the town like this,'_ Light mused while setting the telescope carefully on the wooden baluster. _'It's almost like they want to make a ring out of the town, wrap it around the Giants like some sort of halo…'_

Right now, New Tokyo was shaped like crescent moon, arching around the fields around the Giants towards the bay. It hadn't been like that in the beginning, when it had been built during the Two Year Winter after the Judgement, back then it had been just a small village near the bay. But over the centuries it had grown and stretched until it was the shape it was now. And everyone knew than in few more decades, it would probably turn into full ring, enclosing the fields and the Giants inside it.

_'Hotaru-san might be somewhat right with what she says,'_ the young man mused while crouching down to peer out of the telescope. _'Respect and fear for the Giants and the rest of the remains from the Old Tokyo is so deeply impressed on the people of New Tokyo that they don't dare to built any closer to them than they already have. So the Giants stand in middle of it all like some monument of the world Before Judgement…'_

The thought trailed away as he tried peer out of the telescope. It proved out to be mostly useless. The mask he was wearing had no eyeholes and the thin fabric blurred his eyesight. Usually he preferred it that way - with his vision blurred it was easier to ignore the things he could see and others couldn't, but right now it was doing more harm than good.

Glancing up and then around, Light figured that the balcony was hidden enough for no one to see, and pushed the mask up. Then he tried to look through the telescope again. _'Oh, I did pretty good job, seems like I got the lenses to the right places at least…'_ he thought with surprise while reaching out to fiddle with the knobs and tubes of the telescope to adjust the sharpness. He managed to improve it somewhat but not completely. _'Hmm... One or more lens is just a fraction out of place…'_

He sat down to see if he could nudge them into their places, but before he could start with earnest, a voice called him form downstairs. "Liight! Matsuda-san is here to see you!"

Light glanced up with surprise before glancing at the sky. It wasn't much past noon yet. _'Is that man skipping from work or something?'_ he wondered while fixing his mask to its place and sitting up. As he headed downstairs, he could hear the young officer chatting with Sachiko, mostly babbling about the airship.

"I'm not finished with the telescope yet, Matsuda-san," Light said as he came to the hall to see that Sachiko had pulled her mask on and that Matsuda wasn't apparently staying long since he was still wearing his sandals. "But if you give me few more minutes, I think I can finish it."

"Oh, I'm not here about that, Light-kun and there's no hurry with the telescope anyway. The chief send me to fetch you," Matsuda said, motioning towards the approximate direction of the police station. "It's about the airship actually. They ran into a storm on their way here and it seems they've been having some troubles with their engines since…"

"I'm not an engineer, nor am I a mechanic," Light said with surprise. "Sure I can fix some small thing, but… engines are whole different thing." There was a moment of silence as Matsuda just stared at him, wringing the hem of his haori anxiously. Finally Light sighed. "Is it a steam or combustion engine?"

"Uh… steam, I think? What's a combustion engine?" Matsuda asked.

The younger man shook his head and sighed again. "Never mind," he said and looked down to the telescope in his hands. "Give me a moment, I'll put this away. But I seriously hope they don't actually expect me to fix a god damn steam engine," he muttered while walking away from the hall. "I'm not even sure how steam engines work…"

Seeing an airship up close could be interesting though, and it had been a while since he had visited the station. He sometimes helped with their cases since he was, crudely put, more intelligent than most of the officers and could give a different perspective on things, but it happened rather rarely. He seemed to make most of the officers nervous so usually he just gave his opinions of Soichiro in private.

After placing the telescope aside, Light checked that he was wearing clean enough yukata, glanced into mirror to see that his mask was firmly in place, before heading back to the hall where Matsuda was waiting. "Light, ask Soichiro if he will be on time for dinner today, would you?" Sachiko asked while Light slipped his feet into his zori sandals. "If he's going to be late only by little, we can wait until he gets home."

"I'll ask him," Light promised before following Matsuda out of the house. "Did they say anything about the condition of the airship's engines, Matsuda-san?" he asked while following the young officer towards the station.

"Only that the engines were strained while they were fighting the storm," Matsuda shrugged his shoulders. "Something about too much pressure? I'm not sure. The Chief has the telegraph, he can fill you in."

_'Too much pressure, huh,'_ Light though, looking up to the sky and trying to figure out if he knew anything about this matter. He knew some thing instinctively - like how to repair clocks and watches and now telescopes and such. He was actually rather skilled with repairing minor machinery and such, but engines? He wasn't too confident about that. _'Well, I suppose I don't know until I try it…'_

It took half an hour of walk to make it to the station. It was one of the tallest buildings of New Tokyo - one of the few three floor ones, and there was an observation tower on top of it. The only higher construction in the town, excluding the giants of course, was the firehouse, which had a lookout higher than the police station.

Matsuda led Light through the station to the room on second floor where one of the most advanced machineries in all of New Tokyo was - the radio advanced enough to receive signals from almost around the globe. Light was relieved to find that he knew most of the officers in the room. Ide was sitting by the radio, apparently deciphering incoming telegraph, Mogi was writing notes and of course Soichiro himself was also in the room.

"Light, good that you're here," Soichiro sighed, holding out a piece of paper. "We need someone who can understand at least a little bit of engineering. I've sent Aizawa to pick up Noburu-san but as far as I can remember he isn't exactly specialised in aircrafts."

"Neither am I," Light said, taking the paper. It was apparently the first telegraph from the airship _Iustitia,_ asking for help of engineer who was familiar with steam engines. Apparently in order to get out of the storm, they had had to whip their engines pretty hard and raise the pressure higher than engines could handle. _'Bit of foolish for them to travel this far without mechanic on board,'_ Light mused. _'Especially knowing how little they use technology around here…'_

"Do you think you know anything about this sort of thing?" Soichiro asked hopefully. "They estimate that their engines won't last longer than few days as best and don't think they can make trip back unless they can be repaired."

Light sighed. "I'm not confident. I've never tried my hand in this sort of thing. I'll try, but I might not be able to do anything."

"That's what Light-kun said about my telescope and he's already got it fixed," Matsuda said in carrying stage whisper.

"Fixing thing that has fallen apart is easy - you just need to figure out how to put it back together. If these engines have busted some parts, then there might be nothing I can do," Light said a bit irritably. It was nice to know people had confidence in is abilities, but it was unnerving as well - especially in the case he failed to live up to the expectations. "I need to see the engines before I can say anything."

"Shall I send the good news?" Ide asked from the radio. "If they can't find a mechanic here, they will stop at Yokohama to preserve the engines."

"Tell them we have someone who might be able to help but we'll know for sure only when they get here," Soichiro said. "They can make the decision for themselves, whether they want to risk it with Light or if they want to stop at Yokohama."

Ide nodded and turned to the radio to send the message in series of beeps. Light listened to answer he got for a moment, easily deciphering the Morse code in his head to understand the answer. The airship was coming to New Tokyo. After Ide let the others know it as well, Light turned to look at Soichiro. "When are they going to be here?" he asked.

"At the rate they're going now, in six hours or so," Soichiro said. "We're going to have them land in the inner fields, since at the moment that's probably the safest. We have some people patrolling the Giants so putting the airship on the fields will be safer for them - and we don't need to divide our forces."

Light nodded. "Since they will take so long, how about I head back home for now? I was in middle of fixing Matsuda's telescope. I'll be there when it's time for them to land."

"Before you go, could you look into the radio?" Ide spoke suddenly. "I'm getting lot of static and nothing I've tried has helped."

Light sighed. "Sure, why not," he murmured and stepped forward to see what he could do. It wasn't the first time he had fixed the radio so he already knew what to try. With little bit of fiddling, adjusting the cables and antennas, he had the problem fixed soon enough.

After that he headed home to finish his workup with the telescope. He spend the following hours "adjusting" it, which mostly meant that he was using it to observe south, which was the direction where the airship was supposed to come.

_'_Iustitia_, huh,'_ he wondered while examining the horizon. _'Interesting name for an airship that seems to be owned a private party rather than by some company or an organisation. It would make sense if some army or such owned an airship named_ Justice _but for individual to have airship that name… interesting. I wonder why they're here. I wonder what the airship is like…'_

Though airships weren't rare, pre se, they were rarely seen in Japan. In west they were lot more common, though, and travellers sometimes brought pictures and books about them. Light had seen plenty, everything from fast planes to hot air balloons to blimps to dirigibles. Usually they were blimps or dirigibles because planes used gasoline - which was extremely rare and extremely expensive - and hot air balloons weren't exactly easy to control.

_'This one is obviously a dirigible. It has too many engines for a blimp to handle, so it had to be a rigid type…'_ Light mused. _'I want to see it.'_

The sky had started to grow dark and the sun had started to set when he finally caught a glimpse of the airship. It gleamed silver in the horizon, slowly getting closer until he could see it better. It was really big, and by the looks of it, it was made for higher speed than most dirigibles. It had several propellers, lot more than dirigibles usually had. It also seemed to carry large passenger areas.

_'I wonder who designed that thing,'_ Light thought with no small measure of curiosity. The whole construction seemed rather heavy, yet it seemed to carry itself without much of a trouble. And it had steam engines too. Those weren't exactly light. _'Now I really want to see that thing up close.'_

As the dirigible came closer, Light could see that it wasn't exactly silver, but white. Then, as it turned slightly to probably head to its appointed landing spot, he could see that the word _Iustitia_ was written to the side in bold black letters of rather old fashioned print.

_'If it's close enough for me to read the words, it's soon close enough to land. I think I should go and see exactly where in the inner fields it is landing anyway…'_ Light mused and stood up from where he had been sitting with the telescope.

There were lot of people out on the streets watching the approaching airship. Light passed them by, ignoring their awed chattering and wondering if the airship had any proper tools for fixing the engine. He generally didn't even need tools since the things he fixed were mostly small enough to work by hand, but engines were different. _'Not to mention being a steam engine, it's probably burning up right now, can't exactly try fixing it by hand alone…'_

It seemed that the police had directed the _Iustitia_ to land rather near to the station. By the time Light got to the place and stepped out from the streets into the inner fields, the dirigible was already rather close to the fields. There were several officers there waiting, standing in the line between the fields and the town. As Light made his way to them, he could see that Soichiro was among them.

"…the last time when an airship came here?" Matsuda was asking while looking up to the mammoth of a dirigible, hovering almost directly above them. "It's been a few years, hasn't it?"

"Five years, yes," Soichiro nodded, his hands folded in the sleeves of his haori. "It was a merchant ship from China, the last one. I guess they didn't get too much profit here, since they didn't come again."

"Or they got into trouble somewhere along the way. Many airships are commandeered by air pirates and such, aren't they?" Aizawa asked, peering up to the sky as well.

"Not as many as adventure novels let us believe, I think," Soichiro chuckled glancing towards Light. "You're here. Good. Just in time to see the landing."

"I was using Matsuda-san's telescope to watch them earlier," Light answered, wishing he could take the mask of and look at the dirigible without having the fabric blurring his vision. "It's magnificent."

"You've never seen an airship before, have you, Light-kun?" Matsuda asked with a grin in his voice, glancing at younger man before looking up again. "The one from China was lot smaller than this one. It's amazing that something so big can stay up in the air. How do you think they do it?"

Light shrugged his shoulders. "Because inside it there is gas that is lot lighter than air," he said. "Enough of it to make the entire construction buoyant."

Matsuda didn't seem to understand what he had said, but didn't ask for clarification because over them the Dirigible was slowly turning and starting its steady descent. Light blinked at the way how some of the wildly spinning propellers turned slightly upwards to force the descent and frowned. _'That… might be a problem,'_ he mused.

If he was right, and he was pretty sure he was, there was only so many ways for the airship to remain on the ground. One was by using the propellers which were powered by the steam engines. Without the propellers, the only ways to keep the airship earth bound was to either tie it down or empty the gas cells. They couldn't empty the cells here - because there was no way they could fill them again in New Tokyo.

_'Which means that the thing needs to be tied down or the engines must stay working. And how on Earth can the engines be fixed if they need to keep running?'_ His frown growing, Light lifted his hand to his chin in thought. _'I wonder if they have anything on board to solve this problem because I'm not sure if there's anything in New Tokyo to solve this… unless they tie the thing to the Giants, and they aren't exactly structurally sound…'_

As he pondered on it, the dirigible eventually landed. Two masked figures were the first to step out, both wearing black clothing and carrying heavy looking thick rods. Without even making a move to join the police at the edge of the field, they set out to imbed the rods into the ground, using some sort of crank handles to screw them deeper.

Light watched them curiously, wondering if imbedded rods were enough to keep a dirigible down. _'There's probably sort of mechanism n the rods to anchor them tightly enough into the ground, some sort of hooks maybe… otherwise they would be useless in soft soil…'_ he thought while the two figures imbedded two more rods. Then they used not ropes but metal cables to attach the airship to the rods. The cables were pulled taunt by some sort of mechanism in the ship and soon after the propellers started to slow down, eventually halting completely.

"Impressive…" Light murmured to himself when the dirigible stayed down just thanks to the rods. _'Now I really wonder what the mechanism is…'_

Then he was distracted by a man who stepped down from the airship. He was wearing a long black coat, a hat and a black fabric mask that covered his whole head. Light raised his eyebrows. Not only were the clothes utterly foreign in design, but so was the man's name. Though Light's partial mask made it impossible for him see it clearly, he could see that the name hovering on top of the man's head was written in Latin alphabet, just like the name of the ship. _'Not from __Asia__ then…'_

After a moment of hesitation, the police stepped forward, Soichiro in the lead. "Welcome to New Tokyo. I am Soichiro, the chief of the police here," he introduced himself while Light wondered if the man in dark coat could speak Japanese at all. He motioned towards Light. "Light here is the… mechanic you requested, but before that I would ask to know your business here."

"Of course," the dark-clad man answered with a slight bow. "I am called Watari. I am the assistant of Ryuuzaki, the owner of _Iustitia,_" he motioned towards the airship. "If you would be so kind as to enter the ship, Chief Soichiro-san, Ryuuzaki would wish to speak with you on person. And of course he wishes the mechanic to get working on the engines as soon as possible."

Light blinked with surprise. _'The man's Japanese is impeccable. How surprising. But… invitation to come board so suddenly?'_ he wondered. _'Well, I guess that is why I was called here. And I suppose the police have been pestering these people about their business here - and since these people haven't given a reason yet, they prefer to do it in person. It's interesting, though. What could be so important for a private party that they have to speak about it to police in person?'_

"That sounds suitable," Soichiro nodded, glancing at Light. "Or do you have anything against it, Light?"

_'I guess it's fine, as it seems like I know thing or two about dirigibles…'_ Light mused. "No, nothing at all," he said and smiled. He had to admit that he was getting more and more curious about this whole situation, and he was almost itching to get inside the airship. It was probably the only chance he would ever get to see such a thing, too.

"Very well then, let's go," Soichiro said nodding to the other officers to wait for them. Watari nodded with satisfaction and motioned them to follow him inside. As Light stepped forward, he swore to savour and memorise the chance to see a dirigible from the inside, at that moment having no idea just how much time he would end up spending in it.

xx

I finally did it! I'm finally writing a post-apocalyptic, sort of steampunkish story. With an _airship _too. I'm so happy I could cry. Of course this is AU like woah with all the weird elements I added like secondary names, people wearing masks all the time, somewhat traditional clothes... and such.

This story will be somewhat short, I'm only planning to write nine or ten chapters total, so this won't be exactly epic. Warnings obviously for slash, mild oocness because I'm still not getting these characters quite right, and most likely for _very _flawed technology knowledge. Steam power is interesting but I'm not exactly expert at understanding it. Or at writing about it.

My apologies for possible grammar errors and such, I tried to weed most of them out but yeah, I never can get them all.


	2. Masked Justice

**II chapter**

**Masked Justice**

"New Tokyo has an interesting shape," L mused out loud, thinking back to the way the town had looked from upon. Almost a perfect circle with the remains of the Old Tokyo on the middle. From the _Iustitia_ he had seen many interesting towns from above, but New Tokyo certainly had one of the most interesting shapes.

The town also seemed to have remarkably well preserved remains of the old world standing. The only other place he knew to have so many sky-scrapers left was the ruins of New York. Unlike with New Tokyo, however, the ruins of New York were inhabited and most of the skeletal sky-scrapers had been tailored for living. Wooden structures had been built over and into the skeletal remains and there were rope bridges and such going back and forth between the skyscrapers of New York….

Here, however, it seemed that people had isolated the remains of the old world, or put them into a pedestal of some kind. Surrounding the ruins with their very town? That was certainly a new concept to L. It looked strangely beautiful from above, too, with the large green fields around the ruins and wooden town around the fields…

_'But what on earth world the Cult want with this sort of place?'_ he wondered, tracing his white mask's softly shaped lips with his thumb. _'__Japan__ is famous for being nondescript. There are no companies or organisations here, no sound government or ruling, and only technology Japanese seem to use is the one merchants bring here. There is nothing of interest in here…'_

Unless the Cult wanted something from the ruins of the Old Tokyo, and that was a rather safe thing to bet on. But there were ruins elsewhere too. The Cult wouldn't have come all the way from England to Japan unless there was a heavier reason than just remains of the old world. They had to have a lead of some sort. In Tokyo there had to be something that they wanted…

There was a knock on the door, making L look up. _'That must be Watari with the local chief of law enforcement…'_ he thought. "Come in, Watari," the detective called, stepping way from the window of the airship and facing towards the door as it opened. His assistant stepped into the room, holding door open for black haired man wearing a blank black mask and younger man who only wore a partial fabric mask.

"The chief of local police, Soichiro-san, and the mechanic, Light-san," Watari said, first motioning towards the elder and then the younger man.

"Thank you, Watari," L nodded, taking in the simple local clothing. It was obvious that Soichiro was in higher position than Light, considering that the man was wearing more complex clothing than Light's more simple brown robe. Soichiro also wore socks in his more complex sandals while Light sandals were simple and his feet were bare in them. Mechanics around here didn't seem to be in high positions; quite different from the way it was in the west where they were quite high in occupational food chain.

_'I didn't expect a mechanic to be so young, though,'_ L thought. "Good evening," he said, stepping closer. "I am Ryuuzaki. I imagine our presence here might cause you some headache, so I figured I should meet you in person to explain myself… however, before that…" he trailed away, glancing at the mechanic. "Watari, could you show Light-san to the engine room?"

"Of course," Watari bowed his head and turned to the younger of the two men. "This way, please."

The young man glanced between L and Soichiro before turning to follow the manager. After the two had left and the door had closed behind them, L pushed his hands into his pockets and examined the chief with his eyes. The man had a proud posture, good physique and his clothing were straight and clean. Chances of the man being a good officer were about seventy four percent, judging by appearance.

"Chief Soichiro-san, I will be blunt. I am a private detective," L spoke without further ado. "I am here to investigate and hopefully apprehend a group of criminals that committed some acts of terrorism in United Kingdom, in Europe. I have reason to believe that they either are heading here or have already arrived."

"A terrorist group? Come here all that way?" Soichiro spoke with surprise. "Why?"

"That I do not know. I believe it has something to do with the remains of the Old Tokyo. They are a religious extremists and it is highly possible that they believe that they will be able to find something valuable to them from the ruins," L motioned towards the window where they could see the ruins of Old Tokyo. "They are known to have excavated remains of the old world before."

The man before him made a thoughtful sound and folded his hands. "The extremists, do they have any distinctive features?" he asked then. "Recently there have been some strangers here, asking about the Giants - that's what we call the ruins. The strangers might be the ones you are looking for."

L perked up. _'They're already here? Or… have they been here, have they left already?'_ he wondered silently. "They often wear dark cloaks and if they are wearing masks, they are usually of local design. Often, however, they do not wear masks at all. When were these strangers sighted?"

"Just yesterday, actually," the chief said, slight tone of puzzlement in his voice. "The people you're looking for… they don't wear masks?"

L nodded. "Usually they only cover their faces to blend into the crowd, but that happens rarely. I have observed that they believe it to be sin, wearing a mask. They also have tendency of proclaiming their true names out loud for anyone to hear, often in dramatic manner."

"Kira fanatics," Soichiro said with sudden nod of understanding. "There are some old records of such people in Japan as well, but I have never actually met any… to think such people would come here."

_'__Japan__ has a history of Kira extremists?'_ L wondered, his eyes widening slightly. That was _very_ interesting. "These old records, might they be police records?"

"Some of them, some are merely old wife tales," the chief shook his head. "However, I am not sure if our strangers are your extremists. They were witnessed wearing local clothes."

"I see…" the detective murmured, wondering if there was a way to get his hands onto the records the man spoke of. He had been investigating the Cult for some time now, and had came into conclusion that it was rather old, maybe even old enough to have been begun before the Judgement. There was no way of knowing _where_ it had started though. Had it started here, in Japan, in Tokyo? He knew that the Cult records had been lost at least once so they might've lost their origins… Was that why they had come here?

"Ryuuzaki-san, exactly what sort of acts of terrorism did these Kira fanatics commit?" Soichiro asked. "If they are here or coming here, I would wish to know in order to try and prevent them."

L hesitated momentarily before speaking. "In England they have committed thirty eight separate kills as far as we have been able to tell," he then said, making the elder man gasp. "Most of the victims were criminals - murderers, robbers, thieves and the like. Sinners. Four, as far as we know, were law enforcement officers and three were lawful citizens that were wrong place at a wrong time."

"That's… terrible," Soichiro murmured in horrified voice.

L nodded. "There are also three unconfirmed accounts of arson and one confirmed one on their account. There have also been at least seven cases of robbery - mostly they broke into archives of rare knowledge and storages holding various artefacts of the old world - the world of Before Judgement, that is."

"Do you think they will do that here?" the Japanese man asked worriedly.

"The chances of that are less than fifty percent," the detective said calmly. "In United Kingdom their acts were mostly done for publicity and fame. Considering Japan's… lack of connections, I do not believe they will have the same motives here. However, should the opportunity to punish sinners occur, they might act upon it."

Soichiro nodded, but didn't seem reassured. "You… made a rather flashy entrance coming here on an airship as visible as this one. Do you think that might make them react somehow?" he asked.

_'Surprisingly perceptive question,'_ L thought. "Possibly. They know I am hunting them, and _Iustitia_ is well known in United Kingdom, thus they should know it as well. They have usually reacted in certain way towards me as well. Lower members of their group usually flee if they hear I am coming, while higher members tend to taunt me." _'And if I'm lucky, these ones will do the latter. Best not to mention that taunting usually means very visible murders…'_

"I shall hope they will do the former of the two options," Soichiro murmured. "I do not like the idea of these extremist being in Tokyo. Is there anyway we can help you make sure that they do not have the chance act here?"

"There is. I was actually hoping for your co-operation," the detective said. _'I've gotten used to it in __Europe__, it's a relief to see that the police here will not be getting into my way either,'_ he thought. "For starters I would like to see the old records you have on Kira extremists, if that is possible."

"I don't see any problem with that, but… why?"

"There might be a connection with the historical extremist here and the current group. It's possible that the historical group left something here, and this group have now discovered its location here and are after it. If that is so, your records might help me figure out where and what it could be," L said. _'It's not much, but it's a start.'_

The police chief nodded. "Very well. Is there anything else we can do?"

"Keep an eye for foreigners and take account of their appearance and possible inquiries they make… that is all," L said, absently adjusting the white cloth that secured his mask in place. "For now I would like to see how your mechanic is doing." He didn't like the idea of mechanic he didn't know fiddling around with _Iustitia_'s engines. "How skilled is Light-san when it comes to this sort of thing, Soichiro-san?"

"Light? He doesn't have any training on the matter, so far he has been able to fix just about anything he has tried to fix," Soichiro said while following L towards the door.

While stepping out to the corridor, L smothered a grimace. _'Amateur. I have an amateur mechanic on board. I should have stopped at __Yokohama__ after all, I might've been able to safe the engines some strain…'_ Turning his steps towards the engine room, he lifted one of his hands from his pocket and traced the lips of his mask with irritation. _'Well, Watari shouldn't have let Light-san touch anything. He knows better than that.'_

He paid no mind to Soichiro who followed him across the corridor and to the very last room of _Iustitia_'s passenger areas, the engine room. Wrenching the heavy door open, L braced himself against the usual heat of the engine room. The engines weren't running at the moment and the were letting the boiler cool down, but the residue heat would remain for hours after the fires were put out, so it was nothing unusual.

There were four people in the engine room. Two workers wearing protective masks who were usually working the furnace in shifts, Watari who was standing next to Light and the mechanic himself who was crouching beside one of the engines, peering to the complex mass of pipes, wheels, belts and all the rest of the gear which were usually working smoothly but were now still.

"Watari?" L asked, glancing at the elderly assistant. The soles of his bare feet were complaining against the slightly grimy, warm metal floor, but he ignored it. "How does it look?"

It was Light who answered. "Most of this can be fixed with some fine tuning - you've almost managed to unravel the piston rods in most of the engines, but I can fix those," he said without looking up. "Your boiler took a bit of a beating too. You might want to replace it soon. Though right now you can extend the use with some repairs along the seams to make sure they won't burst open in case it's over pressurised again."

L blinked with surprise as the man with braided brow hair and partial black mask continued. "However you need to replace slide valves in this engine and that one on the left," he pointed. "I think they're bent a little and are probably releasing steam more than it should. And the first piston cylinder this one," he pointed another engine, "is going to fail pretty soon. It needs to be replaced."

_'Well… that was surprising. It seems he is skilled after all,'_ the detective thought and turned to Watari. "Do we have those parts on board?" he asked though he was eighty percent certain didn't. He was however ninety four percent certain that there as no way to get them from place as backwater as this one, so maybe didn't hurt to hope, sometimes.

Watari shook his head. "No, sir, we do not."

Light glanced up, making a contemplative shape with his mouth, before speaking. "I think… I could probably fix the slide valves if I had access to proper tools. They're only bent after all. But like I said, the piston cylinder is a problem."

"Couldn't you fix it with right tools Light?" Soichiro asked.

"No, doubt any patch up work would save it. The best you could hope would be to melt the metal to make a new one - and this thing is made for tool-grade steel," Light rapped his knuckles against the large cylinder. "One would need a proper forgery to work with it," the young man answered and stood up with a stretch. "And I'm no smith."

"You could still try, no?" The chief of police made a thoughtful sound. "Can't you ask to use Itsuki-san's kiln? He owes you for fixing his clock, doesn't he?"

L frowned at that, knowing that it wouldn't work. He didn't have to say anything, though, as Light seemed to know it as well. "That kiln is made for pottery, I don't think it's good enough to heat metal, especially not as hard as this," he said. "You need pretty high temperatures to melt metal like this; no kiln here gets even close to that. And I wouldn't really dare to try; I really don't think I have the skills for forging."

"How long do you think the engine will last with this piston cylinder?" L asked. It really seemed that this Light knew what he was talking about. It was more than L had dared to expect.

"Hmm… if you don't strain the engines too much it might last for good month, but the more you use it, the closer it gets to failing," the brown haired young man answered. "Is probably already releasing steam, soon it won't be sound enough to work the valve and then the engine will be practically useless until you can replace it."

"I see," L mused, tracing the lips of his mask in thought. "And once it fails, what…"

"Well, the engine becomes pretty much useless. Most of the pressure will escape at the first piston and never make to the other ones… It won't be able to power anything after that…" The young man's lips twisted into thoughtful look. "Though I suppose I could override it," he said. "Make the steam pass right into the second piston without ever going to the first one. It would decrease the power of the engine with about… twenty two percent, but it would still keep working."

"That sounds much better than having the engine fail," L said, his eyes widening with mild surprise behind his white mask. _'He knows how to calculate percents? And estimate them?'_ he wondered. "Would overriding the first piston be difficult?"

"Hmm… no, I don't think so," Light said, folding his hands and eying the engine contemplatively. "No, it shouldn't take more than little twiddling. I'd need to fine-tune the other pistons a bit, to adjust them as they will be getting higher pressure than they're used to… but it shouldn't take long either."

"Do what you need to do," L answered eying the other thoughtfully. _'He really is surprisingly knowledgeable.'_

The mechanic nodded. "Do you want me to start tuning the engines right away? I'd need tools and I have none. And I'd rather wait for the pipes to cool down a little."

"Of course. While you wait, maybe you would like to join me for a cup of tea… Light-san, was it?" L asked like he didn't know. He hadn't had his tea yet and it would give him an opportunity to ask the mechanic how he had came about to be so knowledgeable about steam engines. Especially since steam power was mighty rare in Japan.

"Light-kun is fine, I'm still young," the mechanic smiled. "And yeah, I'd like that. Your name was Ryuuzaki-san, right?"

"That's right," L said and motioned him, Soichiro and Watari to follow him out of the engine room. As they walked down the lone corridor inside _Iustitia_'s passenger areas, the chief of New Tokyo's police stopped at the arch that led to the exit.

"I think its best that I head to the station to see if I can gather the information you requested, Ryuuzaki-san," he said with slight bow. "As it seems that your business is urgent."

"I appreciate that, Soichiro-san, thank you," L nodded. The sooner he got started, the better, after all. _'I will need to send some of my people to do some investigation,'_ he mused, having no intention of leaving anything hanging just on the records, as enlightening as he hoped they would be. "Is it possible for them to be delivered today?"

"I will see what I can do, but I do not think that will be a problem," the chief said and glanced at Light. "Light do you need anything here, tools for example?" he asked. "I can have them fetched for you."

The mechanic glanced at L. "Do you have the right tools for tending to the engine on board, Ryuuzaki-san?" he asked hopefully. "It might be difficult to find right equipment from New Tokyo."

L looked at Watari, tilting his head in question. The elder man nodded to the unspoken question. "We should have everything necessary for the fine tuning, sir," he said.

"Good," Light-kun nodded and looked at the chief. "It seems I'm all set."

"Very well. I will take my leave then," Soichiro said, bowed once to L and then turned to leave the airship.

"Well then, this way, Light-kun. Watari, could you get us some refreshments?" L asked while leading the mechanic towards the meeting room. "I feel like eating something sweet. Also, tell the crew that they can… take a break now that we've landed."

"Of course. The crew should be elated to be able take a look at New Tokyo," Watari answered, nodding to his direction and easily understanding what he really meant. "I shall be right back with your request," he added before turning to head to the airship's kitchen.

Satisfied, L stepped into the meeting room. Light followed him quietly, not showing his curiosity towards his surroundings with anything more than slightest turns of his head as he took everything in. The fabric covering the top half of his face made it impossible to see what he was looking at but L had a feeling that he was taking it all in. People usually tried to do that when they were inside _Iustitia_ for the first time.

"Light-kun, I must admit that I did not expect a mechanic from a town such as New Tokyo to be as skilled as you seem to be," the detective spoke while stepping to one of the armchairs and shifting into comfortable crouching position on top of it. "You seem to know lot about engines for one living in town that does not generally use steam power."

"We don't generally use any sort of power here, Ryuuzaki-san," the younger man answered, taking L's way of sitting in a stride while taking seat himself. Unlike L had suspected, he didn't seem have any problems sitting in western styled chair - he even crossed one leg over other casually. "As we do not use machinery or technology. Or much of it anyway."

_'He seems surprisingly comfortable sitting on a chair considering that Japanese people generally do not use such seats,'_ L mused. _'He has a foreign mask too. Japanese use complete wooden masks, usually polished and painted ones, but wooden nonetheless. Yet his is partial and made of fabric…'_

"As far as I know, Japan used to be technologically advanced Before Judgement. The ruins…" L glanced over his shoulder towards the window where they could see the skeletal ruins of skyscrapers. "…are clear proof of that. Yet unlike in most places, Japan does not seem to wish to reclaim the former glory."

Light looked at him quietly for a moment before speaking. "Japan was burned badly in the Judgement and the Two Year Winter was harsh here. Many, many people died," he then said, shrugging his shoulders. "For decades survival was all people had time for. Of course it was like that other where, but here belief of Kira is very strong. Just fifty years ago all technology was considered a sin and that using it was like calling for Kira's punishment."

"Ah, I see," L murmured, lifting his thumb to his mask's lips in thought. It was a belief many nations had shared after Judgement. "I suppose it makes sense, then, if this is a nation who has only accepted technology for fifty years. It makes your talent with steam engines even more curious. Have you learned from foreigners, Light-kun?"

The young man shook his head. "I have learned from books mostly," he said, glance up as the metal door into the room was opened and Watari entered, pushing with him a trolley loaded with tea set and various deserts. After the elderly assistant had set everything to the table, he took the trolley and left the room again.

_'From books? How strange, in the engine room he really seemed to know what he was doing and what he was talking about - like someone with first hand experience with engines…'_ L thought, feeling slightly perplexed. Frowning behind his mask, he leaned forward to pour himself some tea. "Please, help yourself," he said to the other, opening the bowl of sugar cubes and starting to add them into his cup.

He watched with mild curiosity how the younger man hesitated before mimicking him and pouring himself a cup. However Light opted to go without sugar at all - travesty in L's opinion but Japanese were like that. "Ryuuzaki-san, if I may ask…" the young man trailed away, and L could feel his stare even without seeing his eyes. "Why are you wearing a mask that is obviously feminine?"

"You don't like my mask, Light-kun?" the detective asked amusedly while reaching for piece of cake Watari had already cut for him. Many people seemed confused by his mask choice - white mask with feminine features wasn't something most males chose to wear.

"I am not saying that, for it is very beautiful mask. I merely wondered if there was any meaning behind it," Light spoke. "Especially since the mask is held in such manner." He nodded towards L, obviously meaning the thin white cloth that secured the mask in place, which was settled over the mask's eye holes like a blindfold.

L smiled. "You are right, Light-kun. It is symbolic," he said, stirring his tea. "Tell me, have you ever heard the saying, _Justice is blind_?"

The younger man was quiet for a moment before shaking his head sharply, not in negation but as if to clear it. Then he smiled. "Of course, Lady Justice," Light said, surprising the detective quite a bit. He didn't seem to notice though as he chuckled and lifted his tea cup to his lips. "Why didn't I realise that? _Iustitia_, you have even named the airship after her."

"I'm impressed," L said, staring at the other hard through the veiled eyeholes of his mask. "Very few know about the mythology of the old world. You must have read a lot, Light-kun."

"I suppose so," the other said, and took a sip of his tea. Then he glance at the other and smiled slightly. "I have to wonder how you intend to drink with a complete mask in place, Ryuuzaki-san."

"Why, by taking the bottom half off," L answered, reaching to snap the bottom half off the mask so that it left his chin bare. He smiled cheerfully to the amused mechanic and placed the chin part of his mask to the table. "I wouldn't ask for tea and cake if I wouldn't be able to enjoy it, Light-kun."

"Detachable chin, hm? Quite handy," the mechanic chucked and took another sip of his tea.

"I know," L said and took a sip of his tea before reaching for his cake. "How long do you think it will take for you to fix the engines?"

"The fine tuning will take a few hours, but fixing the slide valve and overriding the piston will take a bit longer. So, two days at least," Light estimated. "Probably three."

"That sounds agreeable, I suppose," the detective said, making a mental note to have someone on guard outside the _Iustitia_ at night. He didn't know how locals liked the airship but if the Cult members got a chance, they would sabotage his ship in a heartbeat. "What kind of payment do you usually ask for two-day jobs?"

"Payment…? Ah, I don't charge," Light said, shaking his hand and waving the matter aside. "I am not actually a mechanic Ryuuzaki-san. I fix things when people ask me to, but it's not actually my living."

"It's not?" L asked with surprise. In west mechanics charged royalties - L's usual mechanic had a horrible habit of extorting fortunes out of him. Even amateurs usually charged a lot, and yet… Light repaired things for free? "What is your livelihood, then?"

"…nothing, at the moment," the younger man answered, eying his tea cup before taking a sip. "Perhaps I should go and see if the boiler and the engines have cooled down enough for me to work. The sooner I get started, to sooner it's finished."

L blinked behind his mask before turning his eyes to his cake. "Perhaps so," he said. _'He is without an income and yet seems like he has no intention of asking payment for a job like this?'_ he wondered, knowing fully well that repairing engines wasn't easy. There was something odd about this all. _'He knows about engines in country where technology is rare, he knows about myths of the old world… and he wears a partial mask in place where people usually wear full ones…'_

"If you wish to get to work, I won't stop you." Taking a bite of the cake L glanced at the man who was standing up. "There should be a tool box in the engine room. The workers there should know where it is," he said. "If you have anything to ask, ask for Watari. He knows most about the ship's structure, available materials and our resources, so he is doubtlessly better fit to answer your questions."

"Alright, I'll do that," Light said. "Today I will only do the easiest repairs and will only work until sundown. I will be able to start early tomorrow, however."

"That sounds good," L nodded, eying the man thoughtful through the veiled eyeholes of his mask but not letting it get to his voice. "I appreciate your help."

The mechanic nodded and left the room. L looked after him for a moment before setting his tea cup down and taking the plate with the cake piece instead. Then he turned to look out of the window and into the ruins. _'Light-kun speaks Japanese perfectly and wears the local clothing comfortably… but something about him is wrong,'_ he thought. _'Could he be…? No they couldn't possibly work this fast. They would have to know about the earlier transmissions between _Iustitia_ and the local police station. Unless they have spy in the police station…'_

Was he over thinking it? There was something about Light that screamed that he was not as local as he appeared. The mask, the knowledge about technology and about mythology of the old world… and the man's general casualness with western habits, they didn't add up as someone of local descend.

_'He could be a spy,'_ L mused. _'If there is a Cult spy inserted into the police station here or if the Cult has somehow gotten their hands into technology capable of spying on transmission, then they could have somehow referred to one of their own as possible mechanic for _Iustitia_'s repairs… Light-kun might be a Cult member. Or at least someone sympathetic to their cause, somehow…'_

Was spying all the man was going to do or was he on board to sabotage things? _'Either way, he must be watched,'_ L thought and reached for the metal table and under it. Taking off a small brass microphone which was hidden in a slot underneath the table, L pulled it to his lips. "Watari," he spoke into it.

"Yes?" voice distorted by the machinery came from the speakers underneath the table.

"Have someone watch Light-kun very closely. There is a fifteen percent chance that he might be a Cult spy or possible saboteur," the detective spoke. _'And I rather hope he is not. He seems like intelligent man… but I will not put _Iustitia_ in danger.'_

There was a pause. "Very well," Watari then answered and the speakers fell quiet.

Hiding the microphone back to its place and making sure that the cord was neatly tugged in its place, L then turned to his cake. _'Soichiro-san should be bringing the records at any moment. Hopefully they might give some indication of what the Cult wants here. In the meanwhile my workers should be making acquaintances in the town and hopefully gathering useful information…'_

After taking a bite of the cake, he turned to look at the ruins of the Old Tokyo. _'I need to send someone to take a look at those… though I suspect they have been excavated through and through by now, there might be some unseen clue still there… some sort of landmark perhaps, something that can't be removed. The Cult has a history of leaving signs after them, after all, and making monuments. If they have been here before, they will have left their mark somewhere.'_

Soichiro returned a few hours later, carrying an armful of old records. Watari showed him and as soon as he had let go of the files, L started to go through them, happy to see that the chief had marked every page with mention of Kira extremists. _'These are remarkably preserved, but that might be because of paper…'_ the detective mused. The paper quality was surprisingly good for town where they didn't have any sort of print.

"Your records go back quite a bit it seems," L said while holding one of the books by the corners and eying the complex kanji on the page.

"The oldest records we have are from about seventy years after the Judgement," Soichiro nodded. "However there are few records that consist of rumours from before time, which were written down later on, so it's impossible to say if there is much truth in them… These records, however were made and kept by the police and thus should be accurate enough."

L nodded. The records seemed to be fairly simple - short reports of anything major that happened in Tokyo. According to the records, weeks and months could go by without anything worthy of writing down whilst in other times the police had written several pages full about tales of local bandits and such.

The first account of the extremists was from about eighty four years after Judgement. Group of three men, who wore no masks, had assaulted a robber and left him half dead in front of the police station. Similar incidents had occurred few times afterwards in the following two weeks until finally they had killed a man who had in fit or drunken rage killed his wife.

L frowned. _'This definitely sounds like the Cult. This old group wasn't as organised but the pattern is similar. Attacking known criminals and leaving them to be found… Punishing sinners they call it,'_ he mused, placing the book to the table and staring down to the complex writing thoughtfully. _'Though other Kira obsessed groups do act in similar patterns, going around proclaiming their own righteousness and right to punish those who commit crimes…'_

He turned the page to the next marker. After committing the murder, the Kira group in Tokyo had seemed to fall inactive for a while until few months later they begun acting again, this time only committing murders and vandalism. They had left their marks on the houses and vandalised the police station with some religious babble which was carefully recorded in the books.

_'Return of Kira?'_ the detective frowned at one passage where in grand language was prophesied the return of the god who had ruined the world. _'Nothing new, of course, the cult has been preaching about that for years now, so have other, less active groups… this one might be the very first one to actually make it an announcement…'_

There was something peculiar about this so called _prophesy_. Usually Kira groups proclaimed that Kira would once again descent upon Earth and things like that, that he would come down from the Heaven. This passage, written in the side of the police station good two hundred and seventy years ago, worded it differently. Instead of descending down from Heaven, this one prophesied that Kira would wake up to continue his work.

_'Wake up?'_ L wondered with a frown. In thought his thumb found his way towards his face and as he was no longer wearing the bottom half of his mask he was able to bite the tip of his finger comfortably. _'This is something I haven't heard before. Since when was he asleep? Did they believe that Kira was asleep _here_? Or… did the group who proclaimed this leave behind records about Kira's possible whereabouts?'_

Either way, it was enough to make the Cult race across the world, easily. If they believed that their god was somewhere on earth, they wouldn't leave a single stone unturned in order to find him. It was a problematic thought in many ways, though. Mostly because L did not believe in Kira. At all.

A bit annoyed now, the detective turned his eyes to the ruins of the old world. They were the safest bet. If the fanatics two hundred and seventy years back had left hints or clues or anything about Kira, the ruins were the starting point.

"Those ruins," L spoke to the chief of police who had been waiting with admirable patience. "I take it is a bit of a taboo to go there?"

"It used to be," Soichiro nodded. "It's not so much these days though. We generally stay away from there because, frankly, the Giants are dangerous. Twenty years ago group of children played there and were almost killed when one of the Giants collapsed."

"They are collapsing?" L asked with a frown. That could've ruined the land markers left by the extremist, if there were any.

"They are very old and corroded," the elder man shrugged. "It's rare for entire Giant to collapse but pieces fall off them every now and then. That's dangerous enough to keep distance. If you're thinking of -"

There was a knock against the door, making the man trail away. "Come in," L said calmly, figuring that it would be Watari as rest of the crew knew better than to bother him.

It wasn't Watari; it was Light, who opened the door. The young man's hands were stained with soot and grease and there was a stain on his chin. "Ryuuzaki-san," he said. "I'm going to leave now. Before I go I wanted to tell you not to fire the engines today. I couldn't finish most of the tuning and I fear that if you heat the boiler, they might get worse."

_'You could have told that to the workers or to Watari,'_ L thought with irritation, his eyes narrowing at the thought of being unable to use the engines because of something the mechanic had done. Chances of Light being a spy had risen to twenty eight percent. "Thank you for letting me know," the detective said, not letting his feelings show. "I suppose you will be here tomorrow?"

"Yes, after I've gotten decent amount of sleep," the mechanic said casting a look at Soichiro. "And I suppose it's time I take my leave. Good night, Ryuuzaki-san."

"Light, wait, I'll go with you," Soichiro said, glancing at L. "I'll leave the records to you for now, Ryuuzaki-san," he said to the detective. "I trust that I will get them back the state I handed them in?"

"Of course," L answered narrowing his eyes. _'Soichiro-san wants to go with Light-kun? Could_ he _be the spy inserted to the police department here…?'_ he wondered. "Before you go, though, what were you saying before you were interrupted?" he asked.

"Ah, yes. If you're thinking of examining the Giants, be sure to keep distance to the structures, especially the ones which are growing moss as they are the most dangerous ones," the chief said. "And going inside the Giants is something one should only do as last resort as it is doubtlessly most dangerous there."

L opened his mouth to thank the man for the rather useless warning, when Light spoke out. "You're going to check out the ruins?" the mechanic asked while trying to wipe away the stain from his chin. "Then you should know that those," he motioned towards the window and the ruins which were nod barely visible due to the darkness, "are only the top half of the ruins."

The detective blinked. "What?" he then asked.

"The ruins," Light shrugged. "They go as far down as they go up. Probably even further. There are tunnels and caves underground that are connected to the Giants - though they go even further, covering most of the underground of the fields. They almost reach the town actually."

L's mouth fell slightly open. _'Underground tunnels?'_ he wondered, turning to Soichiro. "Is this true?" he asked.

"Well… there are rumours - and one of the reasons the town doesn't built anything into the fields is because the ground is slightly unstable there," the man said, facing towards Light with obvious confusion. "However, the existence of tunnels hasn't exactly been confirmed."

"I've confirmed it then, I've been there," the mechanic shrugged, and turned to L. "Going there is more than little suicidal, though. The air down there is nearly un-breathable and the ceiling has tendency of falling."

"Hmm… I see," L mused, now more than slightly confused. The chances of Light being a spy were getting higher and higher - the man even knew about something in the town Soichiro only had heard rumours of - but this? Why would he tell of the location of the tunnels if he was a spy? "Is there any chance you would be willing to show us the location of the entrance to these underground tunnels, Light-kun?"

"Sure, why not," the young man shrugged. "It will have to wait until morning, though; I wouldn't be able to find it in the dark. And as it is, I'm in need of a bath and some sleep," he said.

"Tomorrow then," L said.

"I think I will come with you for this excavation if you don't mind," Soichiro said. "If there really are tunnels underneath the Giants, I need to know about them."

"I see no problem with that," the detective nodded. _'I'll just make sure to bring Watari with me. And possibly Wedy too…'_ he thought. "I guess I will see you two gentlemen tomorrow morning."

Light nodded and Soichiro spoke, "We'll be here," before the two bid their farewells and turned to leave. Looking after them, L bit the tip of his thumb, unsure what to think of this development.

_'Light-kun knows about the tunnels whilst to Soichiro-san they are nothing but rumours? That makes Light-kun more informed. If they are members of the Cult then Light-kun is obviously a higher ranking member than Soichiro-san…'_ Except telling L about the tunnels made no sense. If locals didn't know about them, then why tell L?

_'Unless they knew that despite lack of knowledge, I'd most likely find them. Now Light-kun has made himself not only my temporary mechanic, but my guide as well…'_ the detective wondered. In the position of being the only one who knew about the tunnels, Light could very easily lead L astray inside them - away from what the Cult was after or into a trap…

_'I can't go down there. Watari neither. It's too dangerous and if we are killed, the investigation will die. I will send Wedy and Aiber, they should be more than capable of examining the tunnels,'_ L thought, turning his eyes to the files before him. _'Still… it's obvious now. If there is something here that the cult wants, it will be in those tunnels. That is where I will find them.'_

xx

Alrighty, second instalment of the story. I'm be going back and forth between Light's and L's perspective in this story, so the chapter three will swing back to Light and chapter four then back to L... and so forth. Ignore the engine stuff. I fail at it.

Thank you all for your comments, and sorry for taking so long. Some people had some questions about the past of the world I wrote up for this story, and about Light. I can't answer any those without spoiling the plot, but I promise that the story will explain it all. Eventually. And I promise that the whole Judgement thing and everything about Kira will be explained before the end.

Once more my apologies for possible grammar errors and such.


	3. False Truths

**III chapter**

**False Truths**

"I'm so jealous!" Sayu moaned playfully, nudging Light's side while they were having breakfast. "The rest of us can see the ship just from outside, but Light and Dad got to see it from the inside! And you will be going there today too! I want to go too!"

"Can you fix engines?" Light asked amusedly while Sachiki chuckled and Soichiro smiled amusedly.

The girl pouted. "Uh, no," she muttered before pocking light with her chopsticks. "Light, tell me what it's like. How does it look like from the inside?"

The young man chuckled. "I already told you. It's mostly made of metal. The engine room is filthy but you can't expect anything else from place where most of the activity consist shovelling coals into a furnace," he answered. "Outside that, it's very pretty. Very finely made with complex etchings in every metal surface. Furniture is quite beautifully made though all of it seems to be attached to the floor for obvious reasons."

"Obvious reasons are not obvious to all of us. Why would you nail furniture to the floor? Wouldn't that make hard to clean the place up?" Sayu asked.

"Because the _Iustitia_ is mostly airborne and in air it's not always smooth sailing with turbulence and all. And the ship got caught in storm just recently," Light said, shrugging his shoulders and biting into his food before continuing. "In situation like that everything loose would get thrown around and that's the last thing you want when your highest worry is to keep the ship from crashing down."

"Oh. Right," she murmured. "What was the airship's owner like? Or captain or whatever. You met him, right?"

"Oh, we met him," Soichiro muttered with a slight chuckle. "Interesting man, Ryuuzaki-san."

Light hummed in agreement thinking back to Ryuuzaki. The man certainly hadn't been what one could expect from owner of an airship. Light had honestly figured the owner to be something like the captains of steam powered ships that sailed the sea - tall, strong, proud and dressed fancily. Instead he had gotten a skinny man with bad posture, who wore simple clothing, feminine mask and no shoes. And who had the silliest way of sitting.

_'Still, he seemed intelligent enough for none of that to matter. And I suppose he has to be, to be in position he is. The only way for an idiot to own something as amazing as_ Iustitia _would be to inherit it, like Matsuda-san with his telescope,'_ Light mused. He suspected Ryuuzaki to be even more intelligent than he let on, though. There was just something about the strange man that had screamed that he wore masks on top of masks and hid just about every aspect of himself.

_'And he's a private detective too,'_ the young man thought with slight wonder, glancing at Soichiro who hadn't thought twice about revealing the information to him. _'Which makes his presence and everything about the way he arrived interesting.'_

"Just saying that he is interesting doesn't tell me much," Sayu frowned.

"He's odd, strange. Thin, black haired, has a bad posture," Light said with a brief smile. "Sits very strangely too. Seems to like sugar," he added with a shudder, thinking back to the eight sugar cubes that had went into Ryuuzaki's tea. "A lot. And he wears a mask with woman's face."

"Really?" Sayu asked with wide eyed curiosity.

Light grinned. "Yeah, it's very pretty mask, though." And the symbolism of the mask was fascinating to say at least. Not only the matter about Lady Justice, which was fascinating enough, but the fact that it was a man wearing it. That said lot and hid even more about Ryuuzaki's personal values, to wear feminine mask so casually.

"He also seems to be a very resourceful and intelligent," Soichiro added to lighten the bad image Light was giving. "Intelligent enough for appearances not to matter much."

"True," Light agreed. "You have to be somewhat intelligent to have a ship like _Iustitia_ and it's pretty obvious that the ship is designed to Ryuuzaki-san's liking. Which means he has the need for an airship, money to have it made exactly how he wanted it to be made, and enough intelligence to get it made right."

"He designed the ship?" Soichiro asked, a little surprised. "How do you know that after one single visit?"

Light shrugged. "Some things just stood out," he said. "The ships name for one. The fact, that lot of the ship was sacrificed for the engines, is another thing - the ship doesn't really need as many propellers as it has to keep moving, most of them are there for additional speed."

"But the engine room wasn't that big," the man frowned.

"No, but it is heavy. Even ship the size of _Iustitia_ can only lift so much and I'd say that about twenty percent of the entire weight of the passenger areas is taken by the engine room. If the ship had less propellers and less engines, it could have bigger passenger areas. Not by much of course but as it is, the engines do take more than they strictly could," Light shrugged. "The interior design of the ship is also telling. While it's very aesthetic, it's also very secure."

Also Light had noticed that each and every room inside could be locked from outside and inside with a key, which meant that every room could be used as a prison cell. The ship was made for securing criminals. It also had a more complex ventilation system than necessary and Light had a feeling that somewhere in it there was hidden sleeping gas system.

_'And it would probably take a bomb to blow those doors open, given the fact that every one of them seems to be made of very strong steel,'_ Light mused while tilting his bowl and drinking the last remains of his food.

"What does the ship's name have to do with anything?" Sayu asked curiously. "Iustitia… its weird name, isn't it?"

"It's from very old language no one speaks anymore, and it means justice," Light answered, lowering his chopsticks. _'And considering the mask Ryuuzaki-san wears, he believes in justice very strongly,' _he mused while mumbling, "Gochisousama deshita," and sitting up. "I'm going to prepare before I head out."

"I'll go with you, so wait for me," Soichiro answered.

Light nodded before heading upstairs to change his into a yukata and fetch his mask. After selecting a robe that was already in bad state and thus wasn't a sacrifice to lose to soot and grease and whatever else he would get on him while working with the engines, he headed back downstairs to wait for Soichiro. _'Would be better if had proper work clothes, but it doesn't matter I suppose,'_ he mused while sitting to wait in the hall.

"Light, are you going to go with your hair like that?" Sachiki asked from the kitchen where she was putting the dishes away, making the young man realise that his hair was still open. "You're going to get it dirty like that. Go fetch a comb and tie and I'll braid it for you."

"Alright," Light sighed somewhat indulgently and did as asked, soon sitting on the kitchen floor so that she could tie his hair. He took his mask off again so that she could work, settling the black cloth into his lap. _'Would be easiest if I could jut cut it,'_ he mused as the woman smoothed the comb through his elbow-length hair. _'But the women of this house would never let me live it down. Well at least it isn't as long as it used to be…'_

"There we go," Sachiki said after braiding the hair and tying the end. "Now it won't be damaged. You have such beautiful hair that it would be such a shame."

"Yes, yes," Light answered amusedly, running his fingers over the braid. "Thank you. I can braid it myself these days, though," he said while taking his mask and securing it back into its place.

"I know, but I like doing it," the woman answered with a smile while hiding the comb into her sleeve. Then she reached to arrange his bangs comfortably over the mask. "Now you look presentable. You should have chosen a nicer yukata though."

"So that the nicer yukata could get dirty?" Light shook his head and stood up. "This one is good enough."

"Are you still primping him Sachiki or can we go?" amused Soichiro asked from the hall. "We have work to do, you know."

"Yes, I think you can go now. Take care, you two," she said.

Light chuckled and headed out of the kitchen. After slipping his feet into his sandals, he followed Soichiro out of the house. "It's been a crispy night," he mused, noticing the dew in the grass and shivering slightly in the remains of the chill. Then he turned to look at the elder man. "Are you going to visit the station or will you head right for the airship with me?" he asked, knowing that Soichiro had duties.

"I will visit the station first. I want someone to come with me to the tunnels, other than Ryuuzaki-san and his people," the police chief answered. "Also we need equipment before going down there."

Light nodded. "Make sure to pack enough lamp oil. It's very dark down there," he said, trying not to think about it too closely. "Also, you need something to mark your route back with. It's like a maze down there and you don't want to get lost."

The elder man nodded before giving him a look. "I still don't understand why you didn't tell me about these tunnels before," he said. "We could've investigated them long ago if you had. When did you find the tunnels anyway?"

The younger man was quiet for moment before slipping his hands out of his sleeves and folding them inside his yukata to savour warmth. "It doesn't matter. And I didn't tell because it's not safe there. The ceiling doesn't take much to collapse and the floor isn't exactly steady either. The whole place is like a death trap," he then said. "I thought that to investigate it you'd need me to guide you, as I know about the place and… I didn't want to go down there."

"What is different now?"

"Nothing," Light shrugged. "I'm still not going down there. Ryuuzaki-san though seems like a person who would've figured it out eventually anyway so I thought it would be safer to let him know about the danger rather than have him mucking about and getting into trouble without knowing what he is getting into. He also seems to have the resources and equipment to study the tunnels without getting killed."

"Hmm…" the elder man faced him for a moment but the blank mask made it impossible to see what sort of expression he had on. "I suppose so," he then said. "This does explain some of the inquiries the strangers two days back made. They were asking about whether there were any hidden chambers underneath the Giants…"

Light raised his eyebrows. "They knew about the tunnels?"

"Perhaps," Soichiro shrugged his shoulders. "Ryuuzaki-san seems to think that the strangers might be the ones he is looking for and that they have some reason to think that there is something in the ruins. Or in the tunnels. That is what I figured anyway."

The younger man frowned at that. _'There's nothing down there but rubble and darkness,'_ he mused before shaking his head. He probably hadn't "seen" all of the tunnels the time he had been there, so he couldn't know what was down there. There could be a buried treasure there for all he knew.

Not much after they came to the police station. Light opted to wait outside, figuring that he was probably going to end up spending his entire day in the engine from of _Iustitia_. It was nice outside too, as sun was starting to show from beyond the trees and the houses and the air was turning warmer.

"Good morning, Light-kun!" familiar voice greeted him after a moment and he saw Matsuda walking towards him. "What are you doing here? Waiting for the chief?"

"Yes and good morning to you too, Matsuda-san," Light smiled to the man. "I trust the repair job of the telescope was to your liking?"

"Seemed to work perfectly, though I didn't exactly try stargazing with it," he man nodded, though he didn't seem too interested about talking about the telescope. "You're going to head to the airship to work with the engines? Man I'm jealous. I want to see the ship from inside too."

Light smiled. "You're not the only one," he said, thinking back to the crowd that had gathered near the ship in the previous night before Soichiro had dispersed it, telling people to go home. "Everyone around here seems to be curious about the _Iustitia_."

"And you and chief got to see it from the inside. Makes me wish I could fix things too, since it lets you to see some amazing things," the young officer mused with awe before shaking his head. "Ah well can't be helped, I don't have the brains for that. And I think I should be heading inside."

"Have a good day, Matsuda-san," Light smiled and watched how the man headed inside the station. He smothered a chuckle. _'I have to give him points for knowing that he's not the sharpest tool in the shed,'_ he mused. _'Air headed but down to earth. There are worse combinations.'_

He had to wait for about an half an hour before Soichiro finally came out with Mogi. Both of them were carrying backpacks with lanterns attached to them. "Let's go then," the chief said and Light nodded, sitting up from where he had been waiting.

As the airship was near the police station, it didn't take long for them to walk over there. There was already few people kicking about in the edge of the fields, curiously eying the airship. Light also noticed that few of Ryuuzaki's dark-clad workmen were standing in guard near the ship and probably had been for the better part of the night. _'Suspicious man but I suppose he has the right. I wouldn't want to let anyone near _Iustitia_ either if she was mine…'_

When they got nearer to the airship, the door inside was opened and long coated Watari stepped out with two other people - one of which seemed to be a woman. The woman was wearing a half mask like Light, though hers catlike mask was covered in complex embroidery and had eyeholes. The man on other hand wore simple smiling mask. They were both dressed for hard work, carried backpacks and didn't seem too happy about the situation.

"Light-san, Soichiro-san, these are Wedy and Aiber," Watari motioned first at the woman and then at the man. "They will be investigating the tunnels for Ryuuzaki's behalf."

_'Ryuuzaki-san isn't going himself? Or Watari?'_ Light wondered while Soichiro introduced Mogi. _'Well I suppose it makes sense, Ryuuzaki seems more of a thinker than worker type of person.'_

"Well then, Light. Show us the way," Soichiro said, nodding towards Light.

"Alright," Light said, hoping that someone brought a shovel. He glanced around in the field to get his bearing, before turning and starting to head towards the Giants. "The entrance is in the field, probably half buried again by now," he thought back to the digging he had had to do to get the entrance open. _'Maybe I should have asked them to bring a shovel…'_

The three men and one woman followed him quietly to the fields. The fields were no by means smooth and usually it was bit of a challenge to walk through them without stumbling. Wedy and Aiber, being unaccustomed to the complex terrain, almost stumbled to the holes in the ground several times before Light finally found the spot of the entrance.

"It's grown shut," he mused with surprise while kneeling to the ground and digging his fingers into the grass before tearing it aside. Taking his hint, Soichiro and Mogi kneeled down too, starting to first remove the grass and then dig into the soil.

"Are you sure it is here?" Soichiro asked after moment of digging.

"Absolutely," Light answered. "It just has been buried about half metre under ground," he shrugged.

It took a some time but eventually they reached it, the slightly sloping metal trapdoor. Light knocked his knuckles against it, and got a hollow sound out of the door in return. "Yeah, this is it. Step back a little, would you?" he asked from the others before steadying himself against the edges of the hole they had dug and kicking against the metal hard. It took about three kicks before the floor gave away under the fourth one, almost sending Light into the pit underneath.

"The room inside is a bit cramped, and it slopes downwards so be careful not to hit your head on the ceiling or slide down," Light said while climbing out of the hole. From underneath them they could all hear how soil and rubble rained down to the darkness. "Beyond the first room there is a bigger one which is mostly level, though, so you should be alright even if you do slide. Be careful about the rubble, though. There is lot of junk down there and some of it is pretty sharp."

"How did you find this?" Mogi asked, looking around before turning his eyes to the hole. "Everything in the fields looks the same. It's like trying to find needle in a haystack, trying to find this without knowing where it is."

"Yeah, but that's the point. I knew where it was," Light shrugged, brushing the bits of grass and soil from the hem of his yukata. "Not the first time though, of course."

"How well do you know the tunnels underneath?" Wedy spoke for the first time. Unlike Watari and Ryuuzaki, she spoke Japanese with a clear accent.

"Well enough, but I doubt I could draw you a map," Light said. He had mostly navigated in the tunnels by using touch and scent using shapes and smells as his guide. _'I'd probably still know my way down there, but only by recognising the land marks and such…'_

"Just… when you're down there mark every route you take so you know how to get back. Test every floor before you walk over it and if they seem corroded, walk as near to the walls as possible," Light said. "I can't say much about the ceilings but the wider the room is, the more unstable the ceiling is likely to be so I suggest you favour more smaller rooms and corridors and in bigger ones stay away from the centre."

"Thank you, Light," Soichiro answered while taking out a lantern and lighting it up. "I think we can take it from here."

"Wait, he's not coming with us?" Aiber asked with a frown.

"No, I don't want to go down there again. Bad memories. Also I have job to do," Light smiled and motioned toward the _Iustitia_. "Which I should be getting to anyway," he said.

"Go. We'll be fine from now on," Soichiro said and with a nod Light turned to head back towards _Iustitia_, eager to get away from the tunnel entrance. He didn't really want to examine the emotion too closely, but the tunnels below unnerved him to no end. _'Bad memories,'_ he thought. _'That's putting it lightly.'_

It didn't take him long to make it to the _Iustitia._ He wasn't too surprised to see Watari standing at the ship's entrance, waiting for him. "Light-san," the man greeted him once he was in the shadow of the Iustitia. "We were under the impression that you would be working as a guide in the tunnels."

"I only promised to show the entrance, not go inside. I wouldn't be much of a guide down there… and I thought I had job to do here," Light said, nodding towards the rear end of the passenger areas of the enormous ship. "I imagine you want the engines up and running as soon a possible."

The man was quiet for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I suppose so. This way, Light-san," he said, motioning towards the ship and leading Light inside. Like before, the young spent a moment marvelling the beautiful interior of the ship. Though the ship was made of metal and obviously designed for strength, it was everything made and decorated so well that it was easy to forget.

_'Just the etchings in the metal were probably expensive,'_ Light mused while allowing his eyes wander over the complicated etchings that covered every available metal surface. _'Ryuuzaki-san must be swimming in money, seriously…'_

Watari led him to the engine room - like he couldn't have found it by himself - and left him there with the two workers who seemed to have nothing better to do than sit in the floor and play dice. _'And considering that they usually spend every minute here shovelling coal into the furnace, I suppose that is all they have to do… that and spy me, but I can't blame Ryuuzaki-san for that, not really. I wouldn't want some stranger mucking around with my ship unattended either, if I had a ship…'_

After giving them a thoughtful look, Light fetched the tool box, intending to get to work. Picking the least damaged engine to work with, he kneeled beside it, took a wrench and got to work.

_'I don't think I know everything about engines,'_ he mused while tightening the loosened seams here and there to make the pipe work air-tight again. _'I'm not an expert, there are probably things I don't know… but I know surprisingly much about steam engines… I didn't expect that…'_

Light was more or less used to his "natural talents" by now though. There were many things he knew instinctively despite the fact that he had never really paid much attention to them before. Engines just had joined watches and radios and telescopes and everything else he had tried out and figured that he could fix. He had also a nagging feeling that if he had all the materials, he could probably a make pretty much anything he knew how to fix too.

_'Well, everyone has to be good at something I suppose,'_ he though while listening the two workers talk rather crudely about some woman while throwing their dice on the metal floor. _'And I suppose it's not rare for someone to be good at more than one or two things…'_ he added to himself after realising that they were speaking in foreign language. Shaking his head he started to work in earnest.

Once he got into it, the job was surprisingly engrossing. He wasn't sure how long he had been working when a low voice called his name, making him jerk with surprise and almost hit his wrist against one of the pipes he had been working with. Rubbing his wrist, he looked up to see the slouched form or Ryuuzaki standing next to him. "Sorry, what?" he asked.

"You have been working for two and half hours already, Light-kun," the owner of _Iustitia_ said. He was wearing full mask once more and was again playing with the carefully shaped lips of the mask. "I was wondering if you would like to have some lunch now."

"Huh? Oh, um, sure," Light said and stood up, feeling a bit confused. Ryuuzaki didn't need to have bothered with asking him, he could've had Watari or anyone do it. _'Might be that he's all buddy buddy with all his mechanics, but I doubt it,'_ he thought while placing the wrench he had been using aside. "It might be best I cleaned up a bit first," he said, noticing how dirty his hands were.

"There is a bathroom in the hall. Come along then," the detective said, turning around without another word and walking out of the engine room. Once outside he made a strange shuffling motion with his feet against the carpet in the hall, making Light glance down. _'Bare footed again. Looks like he's wearing the exact same thing he wore yesterday too,'_ he wondered. _'This man really doesn't seem to care about appearances.'_

After Light had washed his hands - and cleaned away a smudge of dirt from his cheek - in the ship's rather fancy rest room, Ryuuzaki led him to the room where they would be dining. It was different room than the one they had occupied the previous day. Instead having armchairs, couches and single low table this room had long dining table instead and was obviously made for dinner and discussion. On one end of the table there were several food items placed ready, waiting for them. As Ryuuzaki sat down to one side of the table in his peculiar perched manner, Light examined the food with his eyes. All the dishes were completely foreign and there was no chopsticks in sight.

"Please, sit. I imagine the food might be a bit strange to you, but I assure you it's edible," Ryuuzaki said.

Light glanced at him, noting that unlike with his side of the table, Ryuuzaki's side was set only with desserts. Instead of saying anything about the man's very strange diet, Light sat down to the seat clearly reserved for him. "This is a bit grand for a mere mechanic," he just said while eying the setting. The fact that the eating utensils were made of _metal_ bothered him a bit.

"Watari noted that you had not packed a lunch so…" Ryuuzaki shrugged while gently removing the chin of his mask and placing it down to the table. "I hope it is to your liking, Light-kun."

"One way to find out. Itadakimasu," Light murmured and after moment of contemplation grabbed silver shaded eating utensils. There was a spark of recognition as the fork and knife seemed to fall into familiar places in his hands. _'Another one to add to the list,'_ he mused thoughtfully while turning to the food. His hands seemed to know what to do better than his mind so he let them do what they wanted.

"I wonder, Light-kun, why did you not choose to go to the tunnels with Soichiro-san and the others?" the detective spoke after moment of silence, holding a fork delicately in his hand while using it to cut a piece of his fancy dessert. "With your knowledge of the place, you could have worked as a guide."

"Not really. It's been almost two years since I was in those tunnels," Light said, lifting a piece of steak with his fork and biting into it. _'Hmm… this actually pretty good…'_ he mused with slight surprise. "I would probably end up getting in the way of more experienced people anyway. Besides, I promised to fix your engines, Ryuuzaki-san."

"Hmm… yes you did," the other answered thoughtfully. "How are they coming along anyway?"

"So far so good. I should have them mostly fixed by today. I'll see what I can do about the slide valves tomorrow - and do the bypassing on the engine with dysfunctional first piston cylinder," Light answered, already getting adjusted to the knowledge that spilled from his lips so easily even though he didn't remember ever learning it. "I should have the engines in working order by tomorrow evening if I continue at this pace. Well, unless something unexpected happens."

There was a moment of silence. "Yes indeed," Ryuuzaki said slowly and bit into his cake. "How did you come by the tunnels anyway, Light-kun?"

Light was quiet for a moment and then shrugged. "I found the entrance by lucky accident," he answered. And it wasn't really a lie either. It had been lucky that he had found the entrance. He hadn't had any trouble finding the tunnels though.

"And told no one about it?"

Light smiled rather wryly. "I was a bit busy with other things at the time," he shrugged. "Also, I deemed the tunnels more than slightly unsafe so I figured it was best not to mention about them, not unless it became an issue. As long as no one knew about them no one wouldn't go searching for them - and as I see it, there was hardly anything worthy of the trouble and the danger of going inside the tunnels."

"Nothing? Then what is there in those tunnels?" Ryuuzaki asked somewhat sharply.

"Nothing but rubble, collapsing ceilings and floors that fall from underneath your feet," Light shook his head. "I don't think that even the scrap metal down there is worth the risk."

"Scrap metal… oh yes, metal is quite rare in Japan if I recall," the detective murmured thoughtfully

"Very rare and very expensive," Light shrugged, giving the metallic fork in his hand a slight grimace. "I can see it's not quite like that elsewhere, though."

"No, not quite, though I wouldn't say that it's exactly cheap elsewhere," Ryuuzaki answered he too giving a look at his fork. "Good iron isn't as rare as it was in the first century after Judgement but those who can harness it into steel are."

"Hmm…" Light hummed thoughtfully. _'There are probably iron mines in other places. Japan doesn't have any though, not anymore. __Japan__ doesn't really need any either, not yet. Not before technology here gets so popular that we want to start making some…'_ And it probably would. _'Don't know if that's a good or a bad thing though…'_

They are for a moment in silence, Light enjoyed a nice proper meal while Ryuuzaki ate several desserts. Though Light found it a bit odd that the man didn't touch anything worth it's weight in sugar, he said nothing about it. People were entitled have their quirks after all. Ryuuzaki seemed to have several of them.

_'Actually he seems to be entity of quirks stringed together,'_ Light thought a bit amusedly while finishing his meal. "Gochisousama deshita," he murmured. _'Nothing wrong with that, though I have to wonder some things. Like the wisdom of hunting down criminals on something as flashy as _Iustitia_. Well, I suppose there is the intimidation element, but he's practically announcing these people that he's coming after them giving them a chance to run away from him…'_

"You consider this a feast?" Ryuuzaki asked. "It was a mere single course meal."

"Ah, it's just something we say after dinner to appreciate the food, Ruuzaki-san," Light said with a smile. _'Though it might be that is what he wants or he is sure that they will not run away and wishes to intimidate them into doing something rash and unplanned, that would make more sense. Hasty criminals are easier to catch…'_ he allowed his trail of thought to fade. "I probably should get back to work."

"Well, if you think so, I won't object," the detective gave Light a strange, almost childish smile. "Would you wish to have dinner with me as well, Light-kun?"

"I wouldn't want to be a bother, Ryuuzaki-san," the younger man said politely while standing up. "But I am not against the idea."

"Well then, I will see you then," Ryuuzaki answered with a nod.

With a nod of his own, Light turned and left the room, feeling the other man's eyes on his neck but ignoring it. _'He is a bit unnerving,'_ he muse while heading to the engine room again. _'And he pays odd amount of attention for me, considering that I am only fixing his engines… maybe in other countries this sort of thing is common? Or maybe he's expecting me to muck things up. Hm. Who knows. It probably doesn't matter either. The sooner I fix the engines the sooner I can get out of here. Although…'_

His thoughts trailed away as he eyed the hall somewhat longingly. _'I certainly don't mind spending time here. _Iustitia_ is very beautiful ship…'_ For a moment he wondered what it was like, to own airship, to be able to go anywhere with it… then he shook away. _'No use thinking that. I have engines to fix.'_ Pushing the thought away, he stepped into the engine room and got back to work.

By the time he was interrupted again, he had had most of the work done. Two of the engines would work without any problems, while two others were waiting for the sliding valves. Light had left the engine with the damaged piston cylinder for the last as it was likely to take the longest.

"Seems like you have gotten quite bit done," Ryuuzaki spoke from behind him just as Light was removing the bent slide valves. "You work diligently, Light-kun."

"I suppose so," Light said with a slight grunt, going with feel alone as the slide valve was in spot he could barely reach not to mention about seeing. Closing his eyes to concentrate onto his touch alone, he struggled to get the wrench into right position before starting to loosen the part from the rest of the machinery. It released with a clank and Light managed to catch it just in time before it fell into the complex pipe work. "Ha, got you!"

"Got what?" the ship's owner asked curiously, leaning over his shoulder to see.

Light lifted the valve so that the man could see it. "This. Slide valve," he said while placing the wrench down and examining the part he had removed. "One of the five I need to fix. Not much of a job there though, all I need is clamp and good pliers… and maybe something to heat the metal with, just a little," he said and then frowned, looking at the slouching man who was standing beside him. "Was there something you wanted, Ryuuzaki-san?"

"Dinner," the man said with that imp smile in his voice, smile which was once again hidden underneath a full mask.

_'It's already dinner time?'_ Light thought with surprise. "Ah. Alright," he said, looking at the slide valve and placing it aside. He didn't really feel hungry, but he figured that it was best to indulge the man's wishes. And the food had been very good, even if foreign. "I need to clean up again, though," he muttered, grimacing at his hands. They were stained all the way up to his elbows this time.

"Hm-hmm," Ryuuzaki nodded, turning to leave and obviously expecting Light to follow. "It seems like dirty work, being a mechanic."

Light smothered a slightly juvenile grin at that. "I suppose so. I'm not a mechanic though," he said, following the other. Once again he visited the ship's bathroom to wash his hands, marvelling the fact that _Iustitia_ had running water, before following Ryuuzaki to the dining room. Again dinner was set there to wait for them - or for Light anyway. Ryuuzaki had several pieces of dessert waiting for him instead of proper food.

"Have you heard anything from the tunnels yet, Ryuuzaki-san?" Light asked while sitting down and examining the food with his eyes. It was soup this time. "They should be back shouldn't they?"

The detective didn't answer at first, instead sitting again in his odd manner and examining his desserts. "Yes they should be," he answered, taking a fork and gently pocking a strawberry on top of one of his cake slices with it. "As it is, I have seemed to have lost contact with them just a little while ago…"

Light looked up as the other man again took off the chin part of his mask. "You lost…contact?" he asked confusedly. _'He actually had some sort of contact with them? How exactly is that possible since they're under ground?'_ he wondered. "How were you keeping in contact with them?"

"Wedy and Aiber are carrying one of my radios," Ryuuzaki said calmly. "They were told to report in every hour at least and every time they encountered something… interesting. It as been almost hour and half since the last time they contacted us."

_'Radio? Really?'_ Light wondered with shock. The first thought that came to him was the mammoth of a radio back in the police station before he frowned. It was impossible, neither Wedy or Aiber had been carrying something that heavy or big. Which mean that Ryuuzaki had access to very advanced technology from the Old World. Either that or he had way of making some. _'Just who is this man to have these sort of things?'_

"Do you think they are alright?" Light asked then as the complications of the situation dawned him. If the people in the tunnels had lost contact… "There might have been a cave in or something. Accident might've happened. Do you have any idea where they were when they lost contact?"

"It's hard to say, but I am relatively certain that they were somewhere underneath the… Giants, as you call them," Ryuuzaki nodded towards the window behind his back, where Light could see the ruins. "We had been tracking their process down as well as we could, Watari was even trying to draw a map of their route, but… well. Right now we are waiting for further communication from them. Before that, there is nothing we can do."

_'He sent them down there and he doesn't care that they are out of contact? They could be dead for all we now,'_ the younger man frowned while taking a spoon to his hand and eying his soup. _'They shouldn't have gone so far anyway. further they go into the tunnels, the riskier it will get - and the harder it will get for them to get back…'_

"When you found the tunnels… I imagine you went inside?" Ryuuzaki asked, cutting a piece off his cake an eating it. The man was now looking at Light - though it was impossible to tell outright, Light could still feel the stare on him.

"I've been down there, yes," the younger man answered.

"How far did you go?"

Light frowned and thought about it. He didn't really want to tell, as he had some seriously mixed feelings about the whole ordeal in the tunnels, but he new that at this point his feelings probably didn't matter. "Pretty far," he finally said. "I can't say that I know everything about them or anything like that, but… I've probably been under the Giants too."

The detective stared at him silently for a moment. "Why did you go so far?"

"It wasn't exactly a matter of choice," Light shrugged, smothering a grimace. "I was… lost in the tunnels for a while." _'And I really don't want to talk about it more. No matter how many people are at risk,'_ he added silently, his fingers clutching onto the spoon harder than they had to. "Sorry," he muttered and smirked cynically. "It wasn't exactly pleasure cruise."

"Hm… I suppose I can understand that," Ryuuzaki murmured. "Lost in a place like that… anyone would get claustrophobic."

"I'm not," Light snorted. "Nor do I fear the dark for that matter. It's just… bad memories. That's all."

"You were down there in dark?" the detective asked curiously rather than sympathetically.

Light shrugged and turned his attention to the food. "Itadakimasu," he muttered and tried it, hoping to change the subject. _'I told them that the tunnels aren't safe. They went there on their own volition, if something happens to them, it's not my fault,'_ he thought, feeling slightest twinge of guilt as he thought about police officers before pushing it aside. _'Their own volition. Not my responsibility.'_

They are in silence for a moment a Light found that the soup was as good as the previous meal had been and Ryuuzaki ate his way through some of his overly sweet looking desserts. The silence was eventually interrupted, not by either of them but by Watari who entered the room after knocking and gaining the permission to enter from Ryuuzaki. The black-masked man said nothing as he entered, merely made his way to Ryuuzaki to say something to the detective's ear in voice so low that Light could not hear it.

The detective immediately lowered his fork. "Excuse me for a moment, Light-kun," he said, slipping his feet down from his chair and standing up. "I will be right back."

Light nodded bemusedly and watched how the two foreigners left the room. Shrugging his shoulders and figuring that it had something to do with the whole detective business - or maybe something was heard from the tunnels finally - he concentrated to his food. He was mildly curious but not enough to actually ask because in the end Ryuuzaki's business was none of his business - and he didn't really care how the things went down in the tunnels.

_'Though maybe I should've kept my mouth shut about them after all,'_ he mused while lifting spoonful of the soup to his lips. _'I knew something like this would happen… well, something like that,'_ he snorted.

He had finished the soup and was midway through his second piece of bread when Ryuuzaki returned with Watari. At first Light thought nothing of it, but when Watari stood at the door leading to the hall like a guard he felt a shiver run up his spine. then he noticed that instead of heading back to his side of the table, the slouching detective was walking towards him.

"Ryuuzaki-san?" Light asked confusedly, lifting his eyes from the table. Then he jumped up as the detective snapped something cold around his wrist. "Hey, what are you -?"

"Light-kun, I am afraid that I will have to detain you from now on," the detective said to him in flat voice while Light stared at the metal cuff on his left wrist with confusion. "I have just gotten the information that the team in the tunnels have been captured by those I pursue and I have reason to believe that you have something to do with it."

"They've been captured? How would I have something to do with it? I've been here ever since they left," Light asked with irritation, following the chain leading away from the cuff. It was attached to Ryuuzaki's wrist. "Why the hell did you cuff me to yourself? What is going on here?"

"There is no need for profanities, Light-kun," the strange, black haired man said while calmly reaching for the lower half of his white mask. He reattached it with a snap. "I have been suspecting that you are a spy of the Cult from the very beginning. At first I thought that you were here to gain information and perhaps sabotage the _Iustitia_, but it seems you are also here to plant information… and apparently plant traps."

"What?" Light asked with disbelief. "Why on Earth would I sabotage _Iustitia_? Just who do you think I am - what do you think I am? And _what_ cult are you talking about?"

"_The_ Cult. The coalition of Kira extremists, his most devoted worshipers, the so called Kira's Kingdom," Ryuuzaki answered impatiently. "Don't you agree that you are a bit too convenient for me? Your appearance just when Iustitia required a mechanic, your knowledge of mechanics in area where technology is rarely used. On top of that you knew about the tunnels underneath the ruins even though no one in New Tokyo knows more than unconfirmed rumours about them. _Convenient._"

"What _are_ you talking about?" the younger man stared the other with disbelief. "I'm part of some… some cult just because I know a thing or two?"

"You led my people into the tunnels and inside the tunnels they were captured," Ryuuzaki spoke sternly. "I do not know if Soichiro-san is in this or not, but you are highly suspicious. Especially since it seems to be that you have not lived in New Tokyo longer than two years - and that no one seems to have any knowledge about where you came from."

Light stilled and eyed the other with a frown. "You… what, you did some sort of background check on me?"

"I had my people inquire about you," the man answered. "Mistake on your part, not building a proper background story when you came to New Tokyo. Well, it made things easier for me. But right now I am not as interested about who are you or where you came from, as I am about the Cult holding my people prisoner."

"I have nothing to do with any sort of cult," Light pronounced as clearly as he possibly could. He was really starting to get ticked off. He had been accused of things before, but usually he actually _knew_ what he was being accused of. This was just irritating. "I know about the tunnels, yes, but why the hell would I stake some sort of trap in them? What's the point in that?"

"Extortion by the use of hostages, naturally. You are good actor, Light-kun, but it doesn't work anymore," Ryuuzaki said and Light could hear steel in his voice. The man grabbed hold of the chin between them and pulled it taunt. "You can drop the act because you are going to tell me everything you know about what's in those tunnels, and you are going to make it quick."

"I am?" Light asked with irritation. _'I could've told you if you had just asked, you insane freak,'_ he thought acidly, tugging his wrist back. _'This whole chain and interrogation thing is unnecessary!'_

"Yes you are, because you're not going to like the alternative," the detective said with a dark voice. "Start talking, Light-kun."

x

Dum di dum, plot thickens. Gotta love L doing what he does best. I know that the chain thing is a blatant ripoff from the original, but I couldn't help it. It just fits.

If you have any questions, go ahead and ask. I won't answer them if the answer will give away any parts of the plot, but other than that... And again, my apologies for possible grammar errors and such. English isn't my native language so I tend to make mistakes - and lot of typos.


End file.
